Ups and Downs
by Sonic Rose
Summary: Sequel to "Flirting Shadows". Life is full of ups and downs, and Shadow's getting a good lesson in how to deal with them. Shadow's married life and more is on the line in this now action packed story which includes 90% more plot :3 SIL#2
1. Gentle Moments

Author Notes: Hello This story is mainly for the readers of "Flirting Shadows".If you have not read it, please go to my Author Profile and check it out. This is a collection of short stories and events that take place after Flirting Shadows.

Shadow and other related characters are © SEGA

Sara and baby Maria are © me.

AN Update: Eheh, I have a much more linear set of ideas now... so it's no longer going to be a few 'random shorts'! XD

* * *

Starlight filtered through the curtain to Shadow and Sara's room. She'd drifted off to sleep some time ago, but Shadow remained awake, his gaze on her the whole time. Every night, he watched her body rise and fall in time with her slowed nightly breathing. She was still beautiful to him. 

Every move that she made was of interest…if she rolled over slightly, if she moaned, if she called his name. He listened and watched, sure he should have been asleep, but he couldn't seem to look away. "Nnnn..." He nuzzled against her cheek lightly an wrapped his arms around her more securely.

It was quiet nights like these that made him reflective. It was peaceful, too peaceful. When he thought about where he came from, and where he'd been headed...he felt so out of place. _I don't deserve this…._ he thought inwardly. The warm body felt great; the smell of her hair felt great. The soft bed he was on felt great. It was more than he could ask for.

"Waaaaaaaaa!!"

Shadow's attention was suddenly snapped away to the crying in the room next to them. Sara shifted in his arms, and he soon felt her hand gently stroking his chest fur. "...Shadow? Could you see what Maria wants?" she said lazily, still half asleep and yawning. He nodded, though she hadn't even opened her eyes. A kiss to her forehead and he slipped off the bed.

Maybe his life wasn't so perfect. The crying sound increased tenfold as he opened the door to the nursery. He winced. "Hey..." he said in a soft tone and walked toward the bed. "Hey...don't cry." His voice was as soft and warm as it could be, so very tender, one would hardly believe it belonged to Shadow the hedgehog.

He stood up on a toy chest to reach into the crib to retrieve the crying baby within. He didn't care much to travel between Mobius and Earth, so half the room's furnishings were made for human children. He'd preferred to make modifications to the items himself, resulting in a sore thumb from a hammer miss, and Sara insisting he go to Mobius for at least some of the items. The crib was not one of them.

"Shh... What's your problem anyway?" He cradled the midnight blue and reddish-brown hedgehog to him. She continued to whine for a few minutes before settling down to a whimper. "Come on...I don't speak cry-baby." He sighed. Taking in a deep breath, he found the source of her discomfort. "Crap…."

After the "Night Drama" was cleaned up, Shadow headed back to the bedroom. He slipped in under the sheets, hoping not to disturb her. "..Nnn...Maria okay?" she sounded quietly.

A smile crossed his face. "Yeah." He kissed her forehead again. "Go to sleep."

"Mnn...no." She yawned and lay her head against his fluffy chest.

"Ehh..?"

"She's gonna start crying in a few minutes." She yawned once more, and put an arm around Shadow.

Sure enough, only a few minutes passed, and the wailing started up again. "How do you do that?" Shadow asked, ready to hop out of bed.

"Mmmnnn…. I'm a mother. It's my turn." Sara pushed him back down against the bed and slipped off the edge. Her form was silhouetted against the moon, drawing a smile from Shadow's lips. He was really starting to enjoy his life. "You get some sleep."

Sara managed to get the crying under control in half the time that Shadow did. He listened and waited for her footsteps to head back to their room, but they didn't. Maybe he was being impatient; she hadn't been gone long, but he slid out of bed and followed her.

Standing at the door to the baby's room, he swung it open with a slight creaking noise. His face blushed as he observed his mate nursing their baby. "Oh uh...sorry…." He looked away quickly, to Sara's laughter.

"What?" She smiled. "Not like you haven't seen me before."

"Yes but..." Shadow paused and took another glance at her. "I don't hang on you like that."

Sara laughed a bit, and Maria's left hand slapped against her chest as if to say 'Hold still!' "Mmm…I'm sorry, baby." Her free hand stroked the child's head. Her fine little quills were starting to grow out, but they were still very soft. "I'll be in bed soon, you don't have to wait up for me."

Shadow frowned a little. "I'd like you to come to bed with me."

"Maria's hungry, though," Sara said in an almost cooing tone, looking on her little baby with pride.

He wanted to say something, but she was just being honest. Would he wait for her here or in bed? He didn't want to be separated from her…. Was he jealous? "Nn...do what you want." He shrugged and headed back to bed.

* * *

Sara had the luxury of pregnancy leave from work; Shadow did not. Sara had refused his early morning affections, complaining that he would be late for work again. After having a plate of pancakes forced on him and a quick kiss goodbye that didn't really satisfy him, Shadow headed off to work. 

He arrived at Enviroreach Labs just on time and clocked in for the day. The company gathered information on local animal populations, cave environments, etc. What they did with the research after that, Shadow hadn't the foggiest. It did give him a chance to run, though, which he liked. They were sending him to the canyon where he'd had his first date with Sara, which distinctly brightened his day.

Enviroreach had hired him as a surveyor. With his size and agility, he was able to travel farther and get into harder to reach places than other researchers. Not that it was a glamour job; his duties included more than taking pictures or writing notes on moss growth. He was also responsible for cataloging and tagging certain animals. Birds were his least favorite, and some of the messiest.

Sometimes he wished he'd stayed employed at Vinnie's Pizza. Granted, Tony's strong personality annoyed him, but some things were a bit less complicated. Still, the job carried more money and better opportunities for him.

* * *

Shadow returned home late in the day and ready for a shower. "Sara?" he called, but got no answer. Maria was quiet too. His ears strained, and he heard the water going in the bathroom. _Great_. Sara had a habit of staying in the shower too long. Not to be deterred, though, he decided that if she wasn't coming out any time soon, there was no reason he shouldn't go in. 

He slipped into the bathroom quietly, the sound of running water easily masking any noises he made. It had been a while since they'd taken a shower together, not since before Sara was pregnant with Maria. He mused that they might have made her in the shower one night.

"Hnn hnn hnnn..." Sara was humming a tune. He paused a moment, thinking he might have gotten her attention too early.

Shedding his shoes and socks, he then removed his gloves while he listened. It was one of her favorite DDR tunes, Butterfly. Underneath one of his gloves was a black friendship bracelet flecked with red and sky blue. It was a little dingy, but he smiled at that. It was his wedding ring in a way. He didn't take it off as he pulled the curtain back slightly and let himself in.

Not appreciating his stalker-like method of entry, Sara couldn't help but shriek when his arms wrapped around her. Shadow's startled cry, however, was more pain induced...it's a bad thing to sneak up on a hedgehog. "Uuuaahh! Shadow?!"

"GAH!" Shadow winced as she lost her balance and fell into him, and he slid down into the tub.

"What do you think you're doing?!" She quickly turned to him, sliding a bit on the porcelain surface. "Ohh Shadow..." Her outrage quickly changed to concern as blood marred his white tuft of fur.

"Nnng…. Just wanted a shower...damn shower hog." He tried to laugh but she wasn't smiling. "Since when are you the serious one?"

"Since my quills stabbed you like that!" She grabbed a nearby bottle of shampoo and quickly set about cleaning him up. He may have been hoping for a little fun first, but Shadow managed to relax even with her scolding him. Maybe things weren't perfect. He could live with that.


	2. Disturbing News

Sara was busy in the kitchen making lunch while Shadow was on the living room floor with their little girl stretched out before him. She was almost three months old and already well able to sit up without support. Right now, though, Shadow was holding a hand ominously over her belly.

"Here it comes...!" he said in a hushed but anxious whisper. He then rushed his fingertips to her tummy and tickled her ever so lightly, causing fits of giggles. He brought his hand back to the starting position and eyed Maria as he did so. He repeated the "battle cry" and tickling in a machine-like rhythm, achieving the same results. He tried altering the "attack," sometimes giving the battle cry and not going through with the tickling fingers. Either way, she would laugh.

"Easily amused, isn't she?" Sara lowered herself so she was perched on her heels next to Shadow, while smiling at Maria.

"Yeah." Shadow stroked her very fine belly fur. He marveled at how small and soft she was on a daily basis, even though she'd grown considerably from her birth.

"So are you." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. She chuckled lightly, "Now what's that look for?"

Shadow blinked a couple times, trying to think how to respond. "I'm not simple-minded, you know…."

"Yeah. Nothing wrong with being easily amused. It's good to enjoy the little things." Sara slipped to her knees and then folded her arms around Maria. She sealed her lips to her belly, then gave a puff of air which created an almost-farting noise. Giggling met her ears. "Hee…you like zerberts, do you?"

"Little things...huh..." Shadow smiled at Sara. He was definitely attentive to the little things about her, at least. Her brown bangs often fell out of place in one way or another. He noticed that. He noticed that she was no longer wearing that damnable rainbow sleeve anymore. He really liked her arms bare much better.

Sara lay down on the floor, half curled around the babe, and looked at Shadow with a smile planted on her face. "Just a normal life."

"Huh?"

"Sometimes I think things strike you as odd because you're not used to them...not because they are odd. Like Maria's reactions." She managed a few giggles from the girl. "You can't study for life forever, just gotta live it."

Shadow relaxed a bit. She had a way of answering questions he wanted to ask or didn't know how to. "Can I study as I go?" he asked mildly as though she hadn't even phased him.

"Mmm...maybe." Sara got up off the floor in time for a timer to go off. "Sounds like the corn muffins are done; a few minutes to cool and we can eat." An ear twitched thoughtfully. "Could you check the mail, hon?"

"Sure." Shadow picked Maria up off the floor, along with a plush Care Bear that she liked to snuggle up with. He set her down in her crib along with the classic Share Bear before sprinting off to the mailbox.

* * *

"Hey, Shadow!" Sonic piped up, already at the box for his and Amy's apartment. 

"...Hi," He replied with much less enthusiasm.

"Nnneh... Nothing but ads." Sonic shrugged.

"You mean you don't get thousands of fan mails?" he said dryly as he opened the box.

"Oh, I get them too, but they go to a P.O. box." Sonic shrugged. "Anythin' interesting? Vinnie's Pizza has some new coupons. Two larges with the works for $13.99."

Shadow winced. "How is Tony anyway?" he asked dryly.

"Eh? He's good. You know each other?" Sonic scratched behind one ear.

"...Ass..." He tried to pay attention to the handful of mail he'd pried from the box.

"Oh right right! Sorry, just...I get to talking with him and he's like...not someone you'd like to be around." Sonic laughed.

"Like you?" He started back up the stairs, only to have Sonic follow.

"So how's my cousin?" Sonic smiled and fell into step next to Shadow.

"Fine..."

"And Maria?"

"...Also fine."

"...The apartment?"

"...Not far enough away from you," He breathed through gritted teeth.

"So I see ya blew off the anger management classes." Sonic shrugged. No reply. "Huh. So what are you and Sara doin' for eats today?"

"Why are you so nosey?" Shadows ear twitched in irritation.

"Nn...Amy burned the meatloaf so I was kinda heading to you guys' place anyway...heh. Amy wanted to know if you guys could share or we could like, go out."

Shadow sighed. "It's up to Sara."

"Cool! See ya!" Sonic took off down the hall, leaving Shadow with an ominously doomed feeling. So much for just the two of them.

* * *

"Sara?" Shadow's ear twitched, slightly annoyed. He'd hardly paid attention to the mail as he set it down on a catch-all table as he entered. 

"Yeah?" He found her at the table, just setting up.

"Get more plates. Amy and Sonic are coming." He shrugged and went to the kitchen to grab extra silverware.

"Huh?" She blinked, knowing his general annoyance at her cousin. "Well that's sudden…."

"Yeah. Sonic invited himself as usual," he snorted in reply.

"Uh huh..." She decided not to push the issue and grabbed a couple of extra plates. "Anything interesting in the mail?"

"Huh? Oh...mostly ads." He finally gave her some of his attention, and his thoughts of pounding Sonic into a paste became a much more distant notion. Now his annoyance became knowing they wouldn't be alone on his day off. Shadow sighed. He wanted to keep her all to himself, and now blue boy was just getting in the way, as usual.

"I'll check 'em out after lunch then. Just a couple more points to go, and we have a free Wok meal coming," she commented as she started setting the table, putting the fresh cornbread down with a towel over it.

He didn't have long to wait before there was a knock at the door, and of course he had to answer it. "Hey..." Shadow managed. He caught sight of a deep purple hedgehog seated in Amy's arms. _Blitz._ "Come in."

"Thank you, Shadow." Amy said politely and elbowed Sonic to give similar gratitude. "I'm really sorry to impose...and I was really looking forward to the meatloaf too!" she lamented.

"Hi, Amy! Sonic!" Sara smiled and gave focus to the baby in her arms. "Aww! Is that Blitz?" The pink hedgehog nodded. "He's so cute!"

Sonic and Shadow both rolled their eyes. Shadow caught this and instantly regretted having any common ground with him. "So what's grub?" Sonic asked impatiently.

"Ohh Just a hobo dinner with cornbread," Sara commented. "Shouldn't Blitz take a nap?"

Amy nodded and headed to put Blitz to bed. After all the little things were out of the way, grace was said and the meal eaten in relative silence. It might not have been Sonic's choice, but it wasn't burnt. He really was hoping for some of Vinnie's Pizza, even though he worked there. At least he wasn't fighting with Shadow, who preferred to pretend he wasn't there, until he spoke up, at least.

"So what're you planning on doing when Uncle Chuck arrives?" the Blue Blur asked with some cornbread still stuffed in his mouth.

Shadow's jaw just hung open and Sara looked surprised. "Eh? Dad's coming? When?" the sky blue hedgehog queried.

"It was in the mail. Shadow gave it to you, right?"

She glanced back at the catch-all table. "Musta been mixed in with all the ads," Sara said, then brightened. "Daddy hasn't seen the kids, has he?"

"Nope. That's why he's comin'." Sonic grinned.

"Where's he staying...?" Shadow asked in an even tone.

"With you guys," he replied simply.

Shadow's mind began racing. It wasn't that he didn't like Charles, but, staying... at his house... He glanced at Sara, already sensing intimacy time slipping far out of his grasp. "...How long?"

"Week or two." Sonic shrugged. "He's really looking forward to seeing Maria."

A couple of weeks. It wouldn't be so bad. "Right…." He looked at the smile on Sara's face as she started chatting with Amy about the impending visit. If it put her in a good mood, it couldn't be all bad. She had lived under her father's roof until _he_ had come along. It really was bold of him to ask to stay the night after bringing her home _late_ from their first date. He'd said no, of course, and had objected to their moving to Station Square... Shadow was a trouble maker, wasn't he? A small smile cracked his lips. Maybe he could get his in-law to stay with Sonic if things got too bad. Now that kind of amused him.

"I can't wait!" Sara beamed. She then seemed to think of every little cleaning and home-improvement project that hadn't been finished. "Ahhh...it'll be okay, right, Shadow-kun?#1" Sara liked the Japanese language, so she'd started incorporating bits of into daily speech, especially in front of Maria. He gave a warning glance at Sonic who had started to snicker at the term of endearment. He was quite relieved she hadn't called him "chan.#2"

"...Yeah...fine." Maria's cries graced his ears, finally, and Shadow used her to excuse himself from the company.

* * *

#1-kun A Japanese honorific, usually given to school boys, or a male who is younger than you. Can be seen as an insult if said to someone older. "-san" is much more generic and won't get people pissed at you. ; 

#2-chan Think of it as the female version of -kun. It's typically used on girls, but can also be (by women) used as a term of affection toward someone you like/love (for example, "Sister-chan" or "Brother-chan" in a family situation).


	3. Awkward Moments

Predictably, even after company left, Shadow was drafted to help clean up the apartment. "It's not that bad." Apparently it was unacceptable to Sara suddenly, even though she wasn't the world's best housekeeper either.

Cleaning up the catch-all table turned out to be the most tedious and distracting of the day's jobs. "Aaa! I thought I lost this ring!" Sara exclaimed, holding up a small gold ring with a sapphire set in the middle. Shadow had given it to her for her birthday.

"Nice..." he commented halfheartedly. She didn't really gush about jewelry much, but she'd really liked it and it wasn't _too_ expensive, but right now he had other things on his mind. Maybe if they got to the end of the cleaning, he could finally have some quality time with her. He had determined he'd find a way to do so before "Daddy" came to town.

It was hard trying to clear things out with Sara there. While Shadow would have gladly pitched a number of broken or seemingly useless items, Sara seemed to have some sentimental claim to almost everything he touched. It was starting to annoy him as the evening sun started sinking into the horizon. At least he was able to clear up the stack of outdated coupons and ads...

"Hungry?" Sara voiced with a slight yawn as the light started to slip away at a faster rate. She now had a scarf tied around her quills and thicker work gloves on with a broom hoisted over her shoulder.

Shadow coughed from the noxious chemicals he was working with in the bathroom. He had to blink a couple times to clear up watering eyes, giving her a positively quizzical look. _How can she think of food now?_

"Ehh?"

"Hungry? We've been at this a while," she asked again, wiping sweat from her brow. She got up on a step stool and batted the broom's bristles against some cobwebs overhead. He had to admire her balance and form.

"How can you be hungry? We just ate a little while ago." He coughed again and decided he'd better talk to her where he could breathe.

"I don't know..." She stretched a bit further and Shadow readied himself to catch her in case she fell. He kind of hoped she would. "I'm thinking pizza."

"Vinnie's again?" Shadow sighed.

"Yeah." She managed to keep her balance and came down from the step stool, only to move it to another poor, neglected corner. "Double cheese and green pepper. Good, ya?"

"I'll order it for pickup." He shrugged.

"Eh? Why not delivery?" Of course, Sara should've known as Shadow rolled his eyes exactly why. "Oh...Sonic's working tonight, isn't he?"

"Thirty minutes, or Tony's paying." Shadow grinned a bit. In a moment of playfulness, he knocked against the stepping stool while passing Sara, causing her to lose her balance. Of course he was there to catch her. The broom was quickly lost to clatter on the floor next to them.

"Ahh! Shadow!" She blushed a bit as he lowered her into a compromising position on the couch.

He smiled at having finally disarmed her. "I gotcha. Don't worry." He smiled and leaned in to kiss her forehead. He kissed her nose. He kissed her on the lips. It was good to have cleared away the resistance.

"_Waaaaa!" Shit!..._

Moment broken, Sara planted her hands firmly on Shadow's fluffy white tufted chest and pushed him off with a mild laugh. "Sorry, hon." Sighing, Shadow zipped out the door to Vinnie's.

* * *

"Shadow!" Tony beamed upon the black and red hedgehog's entrance. The caramel-haired human was always in a good mood, it seemed. Today was no different. "Double cheese, green peppers, right?" Shadow nodded reply. "Conversant as ever! Don't ever change."

"I try not to."

Tony checked through a stack of orders for Shadow's usual. "How's the lil' missus? Ain't seen her in a while."

"Sara is fine." He vaguely recalled having a similar conversation not more than a few hours ago.

"Good! I swore I'd beat ya to a pulp if you ever hurt her, right?" He smiled as he came around the counter and knelt down to hand off the box of cheesy goodness. "I included some free cinnamon sticks. She likes those, right?"

Shadow arched an eyebrow. "Yeah... You don't really care about my relationship, do you? I mean...that's a pretty empty threat." He accepted the pizza after trading it for a twenty he pulled from his glove.

Tony shrugged as he took the bill. "Hold on, I'll get ya change." He stepped around the counter again, the register ka-chinging after he entered the amount of the exchange. "Empty threats, huh? I dunno. I just like everyone to be happy."

The door chime sounded as a couple of men dressed up darkly stepped inside just in time to hear the happy comment. "Well you can make us all _very_ happy if you just give us all ya money." The bigger of the two ski-capped men ordered. Of course, they had made the miscalculation of not noticing the small Mobian client who knew exactly what was going on.

"Ahh…. Happiness is a fleeting thing...ya know they say a fool and his money are soon parted," Tony replied with a forced grin, even under pressure.

"Yeah. And fools like you don't got no security," the second thug retorted.

"Ohh...I got security." Tony grinned. "Know Jesus?"

The two robbers started laughing until Shadow's icy tone spoke up behind them. "Excuse me...I think you overlooked something." He'd set the pizza on one of the waiting chairs and was now cracking his knuckles. Much laughter ensued. "_Chaos...Control!"_ Less than five seconds later, the two punks were knocked unconscious with an annoyed Shadow snorting at their feeble attempts to rob a pizza place.

"Ey, Shadow!" Tony grinned. "Thanks, man." He was already dialing the cops while the other pizza chef, Carlo, looked for something to tie up the thugs with.

"Not a problem…." He shrugged and turned back to his pizza.

"Hey heya! Hold it, I need to give you your change!" He started addressing the police on the other end, but handed Shadow back two twenties. A brief visual exchange, and Shadow nodded and left with his pizza...and free bread.

* * *

Vinnie's Pizza was always received gladly by Sara, whom he found playing with Maria when he got home. At least she was through cleaning for the time being. He decided not to tell her about the robbers or the brief meeting with Sonic as he left the place.

After all the cleaning and playing with Maria was done, Shadow finally felt like it was _his_ time now as the two readied for bed. Sara's body was certainly appealing to him, and now that he could smell something other than Mr. Clean, he certainly enjoyed her aroma. He slipped into bed before her, waiting expectantly. His eyes followed her silently as she unlatched her beaded necklace and set it on a hook for the night. He watched her discard her clothing, actually stopping to put it in the basket where it belonged for a change. He spent a lot of time watching her, he realized, but she'd told him before his eyes on her were actually a comfort. Good thing, or she'd be calling him a "creep" again.

At last, Sara slipped under the covers with him, though she rolled to the side facing away from him and drew part of the blanket with her as she did so.

"...Sara?" he called softly and nudged her shoulder.

"Nnn...?" she replied lazily, though she did roll over so she could look up at him.

"Well... it's just..." He lightly ran the back of one bare hand along the length of her arm from the shoulder down, "...we're alone...and it's the end of the day…."

She smiled a little. "...Yeah…." She turned back to looking at the window, her quills toward him.

Shadow heaved an audible sigh. "We're not going to be alone much when your father gets here..." Well, if she wasn't going to turn to him, he'd just have to be careful. He put an arm around her and nestled his head on her neck. "...so..."

She couldn't be _that_ naive, though she sighed a bit. "Hnnn...think you've earned it?" Shadow bristled a bit at the implications. He was about to spout out how he'd saved her favorite pizza owner from being street pizza, until she spoke up again. "Ahh...I guess we could." Shadow knew enough not to act on impulse when her quills were still turned to him and he sensed a "but" coming. "It's just...I'm kind of tired...that was a lot more work than I was expecting, you know."

He kissed her neck and gently stroked her side, trying to get her to relax. _Just a little more..._ "Yeah well, we don't have to do everything in one day...he's not coming for a week."

Sara chuckled a bit, "I guess you're right." She rolled over to her mate, her fingers once again stroking his silky chest fur.

He didn't know what it was about that white tuft, but right now, he was sure glad he had it. "Thanks..." There was, however, a chest he was more interested in than his own, among other things. He was still of the opinion women were crazy and love was some kind of disease, but if so, he wasn't presently interested in a cure.

* * *

A knock at the door around 6 AM the following day told Shadow his morning was starting off about 2 hours too early for the coffee pot to be on. This meant little to Shadow personally, who preferred tea, but to his caffeine-addicted mate, it meant life or death. The knock sounded a second time. "Just a minute!" he shouted.

The lump in bed next to him made a quick "I'm up!" statement followed by a groan, and then a pair of hands stretched out from under a cocoon of bed sheets. "Nnn...who is it...?" She nestled up aside Shadow; that part of the morning he liked, but she was still half asleep. "...Make 'em go away..." she yawned.

That, he could do. "**Just a freakin' minute already!**" Shadow barked as the knock became more insistent. He slipped his socks, shoes, and gloves on, smoothed out his fur, and set off to the apartment door. "Yeah, yeah who the hell is it?!" He cracked the door open and his jaw slackened.

Before him stood a light blue hedgehog with gray brows and brown eyes. A couple of suitcases were at his side. "Hello, Shadow..." he coughed lightly, "Nice way to greet your father-in-law."


	4. Disastrous Moments

Author's Notes: The Happy Rose is a local restaurant chain. I really enjoy eating there. A lot of Sara's tastes reflect my own hehe! Umm the meat roll-ups I mention I had once at the China Buffet. Don't know if they still carry them or not, but out of respect to my deceased first pets, I won't ever be having them again.

* * *

Shadow froze. This definitely wasn't the first thing he expected to see in the morning. "I...thought you weren't coming for at least another week..." he voiced in mild surprise.

Chuck gave him an unreadable look, then smiled. "Well, I got things squared away a bit faster than I expected... May I come in?"

Shadow started to say something, then stopped. He eyed the bags, knowing full well he'd have to carry them. "Yeah...I'll get those."_Not my day..._ he sighed inwardly. He could already feel the older hedgehog's eyes on him in a very calculated and studying way. Funny thing, it was the same probing gaze Shadow often used, kind of like a cat watching a bird before it strikes.

Chuck's eyes beheld the well-lit apartment. It had a couple of windows overlooking the cityscape, two bedrooms, a kitchenette, and needed bathroom, aside a small utility closet. Chuck stroked his mustache as he took a look at what he could. At least there'd be no cobwebs to complain about, Shadow thought. "...Not bad."

"Glad you like…." Shadow said dryly. He set the suitcases down to the left of the door.

After a couple of minutes, Sara's voice carried to Shadow's and Chuck's ears, "Shadou-kun? Who is it?"

He got closer to the bathroom where her voice was coming from so he wouldn't have to yell. "It's...your father."

The door suddenly opened a bit and Sara peered out at Shadow wide-eyed. "But…."

"...I know..." he said softly. "Just get ready, okay?" He took a quick peek at his mate in spite of himself and smiled well after the door closed again. A thought occurred to him, and he hurried to start up the coffee maker before all hell broke loose. "So...uh...how long are you staying again?" he asked Charles idly. He really hated the auto-timer for the pot; he never knew if it was actually on or not.

"A while," he answered non-committably. "Ahh, I'm anxious to see my little girl." He smiled wistfully.

"Well, I know you didn't come here to see me," the words slipped off his tongue before he realized bringing up Maria was probably a better course of action. Although the "old man" said nothing, he distinctly caught an unfriendly glint in his eyes. _Sigh... 'Maybe I should've listened to Tony about the "fine art"' of conversation...'_

Sara came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, dressed in a long sleeve lavender-purple top and denim jeans. Shadow noted it a change from her usual tube tops and short sleeve options for around the house. Typically the outdoor weather didn't bother her when she planned on staying indoors.

"Daddy!" She smiled and rushed the older hedgehog for a hug. Shadow stayed quiet and watched.

Chuck instantly melted into a more relaxed state and even chuckled at her antics. "Heyy..." He smiled warmly and kissed his daughter on her forehead. Shadow couldn't help frowning a little bit; that was where _he_ liked to kiss her. "Shadow treating you all right?" He mussed up her bangs and kept an arm around her.

"Of course!" At least she replied quickly and in good spirits. "Mmmm...I missed you! So much has happened...and you need to see Maria, she's so cute!" He hadn't seen her this excited since Christmas.

"I will I will..." He smiled warmly again. "Why don't you show me to her?" Sara nodded and pulled her dad off to the baby's room.

"...Coffee's done," Shadow said to a room with no one in it. _Sigh._

* * *

Shadow found himself exactly where he didn't want to be with a certain blue hedgehog at his side. Exed out of the almost daily walk to the park with Sara and Maria, he was instead shopping for a new sofa, since they didn't have a spare bedroom. Thank goodness for Bed Bath and Beyond...

"...What about this one?" Shadow asked in a detached tone.

"Hnn..." Sonic hopped up onto the sofa-bed to check it out. "...I bet this is the papa bear's bed," he quipped, the joke flying way over Shadow's serious head. Grinning, Sonic hopped down. "Eh, that means we try to look for the baby bear's bed."

"What the hell are you babbling about?" he asked as they moved on to the next sofa. His main problem was the dimensions; it was large for Mobian standards, but standard for humans. There didn't seem to be much middle ground.

"A story I was readin' Blitz last night." He smiled with his hands folded behind his head.

"...The only reason I brought you is because Sara said you knew his tastes..." he snorted, stopping at a smaller sofa-bed that was made for a human child's room.

"Ditch the airplanes and it looks pretty good," Sonic commented before giving it a personal flop-test. "So you've never heard about Goldilocks and the three bears?"

"No." Shadow stepped over to the couch and tested the mattress out, then sat on the edge in a more dignified manner.

"You should tell it to Maria sometime." Sonic jiggled the frame and jumped on it in a fairly abusive way, causing Shadow to glare at him, not for the first time that day.

"I would if I _knew_ the story, but that would mean someone would have to tell it to me." He stood up, refusing to fall after Sonic did another bounce on it, almost breaking the damn thing. He then spun in the air as he sprang off it and landed gracefully on his feet. "...You break it, _you_ bought it."

"Hmmm... Eh, that one doesn't have enough cushioning either." Sonic shrugged and moved onto the next sofa-bed as if he hadn't even heard Shadow. He pulled out the bed part and tested this one a bit more gingerly, but as always, he had to jump on it. He was quite fortunate Shadow wasn't feeling too homicidal today. "Ahh...just right." He smiled and folded his arms behind his head again.

"Great, so let's buy it and go already." He rolled his eyes.

"So there's three bears, a mama, a papa, and a baby...and one day they make porridge."

_Now he decides to tell stories?_ "...Come on..."

"...But it's too hot, so they decide to go out for a walk. And while they're gone--"

"**Let's go!**_**"**_

"...This girl with gold curly locks of hair shows up and she's hungry, so she tries their food."

"**SONIC!**"Shadow yelled and gave a good thump to Sonic's head.

"**OW!** Hey! You asked for the story!" He rubbed his head as he sat up, giving Shadow the dirtiest look in the world.

"I hate you..." he breathed. "Why couldn't Chuck stay with you guys again?"

"Because you guys have the bigger apartment?" Sonic shrugged. "Besides, I'm just the nephew; _you're the son-in-law._"

* * *

Reheated chicken kiev apparently was not Sara's top choice for dinner that night. Sure, it just had to be thawed and all, but after all, her father just got to town and she didn't have a chance to make anything special for him. So the whole family headed out to the Happy Rose buffet. That meant the _whole_ family, Amy, Sonic, and Blitz included. The place was a Chinese/Japanese buffet that featured a sushi bar as well as some American dishes like fried chicken.

Sonic was having fits of laughter at the octopus salad. It was a bunch of baby octopi, and they very much appeared to be whole. He put several on his plate, along with more contemporary items that looked a whole lot more appetizing. Even Amy was giving him weird looks.

Sara had some definite likes and dislikes, passing over crab rangoon, steak, and pork in favor of muscle, several varieties of shrimp, crab, and General Tso's chicken. She also grabbed fried rice and some veggies to round out the plate, and stopped by the sushi bar for some chopsticks.

Amy turned her nose up at anything weird, fried, or greasy. That meant mushroom caps, steamed dumplings, veggies, lo mein noodles, and cooked fish was on her menu. She did wait for Sonic to return to the table before taking off, though, since she'd been in charge of watching Blitz and Maria.

Chuck picked some of the fried items and rice, being a bit leery of some of the items on the menu. Shadow rather liked seafood, so his plate was quite similar to Sara's in its build. She did catch his arm, though, when he'd reached for a couple meat-roll ups that smelled very good to him. "Ah...ahem..." She coughed lightly.

"...What?" he asked quietly, giving her a weird look.

"Ahh you might not want that..." She motioned to the tag over the dish, which told what it was.

Pork and rabbit roll ups... "...Oh..." He put down the tongs and made a mental note never to invite Cream and Vanilla here.

The group sat at a nice booth next to a big oriental painting. The place had great atmosphere, with Asian paintings, paper umbrellas hanging from the ceiling, lanterns, and more. The fish tank was endlessly amusing to both Maria and Blitz, who wanted a better view. The pair kept looking over at the tank every two minutes or so. Despite the cozy atmosphere, Shadow felt like he was on pins and needles when it came to "Grandpa Chuck."

"Sonic, what do you think you're doing?" Amy asked as he seemed to torment the dead octopus, held between two chopsticks.

"Hehe...I dare you to eat it, Amy!" he said in a singsong tone, taunting with the poor dead octopus.

Blitz gave delighted giggles as he watched Sonic fly the little tako through the air. "Ewww no way no! No no no no no!!!" She looked a bit ill.

Sara couldn't help a laugh. "Come on, Sonic...don't you think that's...a bit..." Chuck started saying.

"Aww, Unc..."

"...You're being childish, Sonic," Shadow commented.

"Yes you are!" Amy said firmly.

"I'll eat it." Sara shrugged. She plucked a baby octopus off Sonic's plate with her chopsticks and promptly ate it.

"Eww!" Amy said, and Sonic just stared blankly at her for a moment. Apparently he hadn't expected anyone to actually taste it. Chuck had his mouth open to say something, but a rather unsettling silence formed around the group.

The babies' giggling broke the silence. "...How does it taste?" Shadow finally asked. He fed a spoonful of pudding to Maria, taking time out from his now unappetizing meal.

"...Like soy sauce-flavored rubber bands." She wrinkled her nose. "So, I think I saw octopus sushi down at the bar, but I was thinking ika...squid."

Shadow nodded. "I haven't had any sushi in a while. Have you tried the eel?" While the rest of the hedgehogs seemed to pale or turn green at the discussion of raw or weird sushi items, the ice had been broken between him and his mate at least. Chuck even seemed to relax as they carried on an albeit weird but casual conversation.

The two discussed raw, cooked, and vegetarian kinds of sushi. They even talked about wasabi and pickled ginger, favorite condiments for seasoned sushi lovers. The rest of the time spent at the Happy Rose, Sara attempted to get her father to try inari sushi, which amounted to rice in a fried tofu pouch. Despite her best efforts to convince him that it wasn't raw fish and was even sweet tasting, he still equated sushi with raw fish. Shadow came away from the event feeling a bit cheered on by the fact he and Sara shared similar tastes in food, and a bit of pride that she'd shown Sonic up over the octopus salad. It wasn't a bad evening...it even made him forget, briefly, that their home life was about to change.


	5. Relevant News

The following day, Shadow awoke to find a mere indentation in the bed where Sara usually lay. In a sleepy half haze, his mind questioned the lack of a mate, and he groped around with one hand, feeling the cloth void next to him. It worked its way up to the pillow, where his hand collided with a piece of paper and a small plastic-wrapped object that slid against his hand upon disturbing it. He immediately cracked an eye open.

A piece of stationary was pinned to the pillow, and the object he found to be a Lindt dark chocolate truffle (Sara's favorite chocolate, which she was forbidden to eat until she weaned Maria). He sat up in bed, folding his legs Indian-style and picking at the pin until it released the note.

_Dear Shadow-kun,_

_Ohayou Gozaimasu! I'm sorry for leaving you alone this morning. Dad wanted to take me out to breakfast, I forgot to mention it before bed. I'll be back around noon. I already fed Maria this morning, but she'll probably be cranky around the time you start reading this. _

Shadow twitched an ear as he read.

_Please give her a bath will you? We're going to the Thorndyke's later today,_

_'We are?'_ Shadow blinked in annoyance. Since when was _she_ telling him what to do?

_I don't know how late we'll be staying, but expect to be there a while. Dad mentioned wanting to meet Grandpa Chuck. Ha... I didn't realize, my dad's a "Grandpa Chuck" now too._

"How cute..." Shadow muttered humorlessly.

_Anyway, please accept my secret chocolate stash as an apology for now. I'll make it up to you honey, I promise!_

_Love,_

_Sara_

Shadow breathed a heavy sigh. His ear twitched responsively to Maria's morning cries. At least that much was predictable. The dark hedgehog entered his little girl's room. Sara was in charge of decorating it largely, as evidenced by a sky with rainbows motif on the wall. The dresser was rainbow colors, but at least it wasn't all pink. That's one thing Shadow had insisted on, and Sara had gladly agreed to.

"Hey, babe...it looks like it's you and me this morning." He reached into the crib and pulled out his fussy little girl. She hadn't yet soiled her diaper, for which he was grateful. "You hungry?" He stepped down from the toy chest next to the crib and held her close to him. He didn't rock her much, but did gently stroke her head and play with her disproportionately large ears. Blitz's ears also seemed large compared to his head, so it wasn't uncommon. It did make him think she looked like something out of one of Sara's "Animes" she liked to watch.

He got her to settle down after a few minutes and set her in a high chair while he ate his own breakfast, a bowl of cereal. "Daddy likes milk too, ya know," he commented idly to Maria. "Supposed to make you grow tall and healthy..." He glanced at her again.

She was more alert than a human child of her age, and her eyes were definitely on her father's movements. She leaned over in fascination and reached for the spoon, which was well out of her reach. He looked on her with a small smile. He noted how bright her jewel-red eyes were. Her fur was incredibly soft and still very short, but her bangs were starting to develop. Her belly fur and her bangs were almost a blood red with a hint of brown, rather than the reddish-brown it looked like they would be at first. Not a trace of likeness to the Maria she was named after.

"You're going to fall if you keep doing that." He picked her up out of the seat; she was half leaned over the edge in her attempts to grab the spoon.

Breakfast abandoned, Shadow decided he could at least spend some time with his daughter. There wasn't much he could do with her at this age, but he went back into her room for a children's book. She had a small library already on a rainbow-colored set of shelves he'd built shortly before her birth. Sara was so proud of him, being so supportive. "Let's see...Green Eggs and Ham...blech...Color Kittens... Horton Hears a Who...The Frog Prince..." Shadow grimaced... "Goldilocks and the Three Bears...lovely." He sighed and plucked the book next to it before sitting down on a rainbow rocking chair and situating Maria in his lap.

After story time was over, he remembered Sara's mentioning a bath. His one problem was the sleeping fuzzball in his arms. Some Mobian species were not above a tongue bath, but soap and water was far more traditional. He decided a spritz of body spray and 'nobody would know the difference.' It wasn't like she rolled around in the mud at this point. Besides, he really didn't want to disturb her...small and soft... He watched her slumber and wondered how he began craving these small, peaceful moments, and how he had ever done without them.

* * *

Of course, Sara knew he hadn't actually bathed Maria, but she didn't say anything about it. He, in turn, didn't say anything about how much he really wanted to stay home today and not go anywhere near the Thorndyke mansion, especially after Sara mentioned Sonic's being there. He'd just have to put up with these "family outings" until "Daddy" went home to Mobius.

"The Thorndykes really helped Sonic out when he first came to Earth," Sara said as they walked down the street to the mansion.

"Ahh yes, Sonic's told me a lot about them," Chuck replied. "I've actually been interested in meeting them for a while. I must confess I have a bit of business with Chris' grandfather."

Sara looked up at that. "Business?"

Chuck nodded. "I'm thinking of coming out of retirement for a while."

"I thought you ran that restaurant on Mobius?" Shadow put in. He was allowed to carry Maria for this stretch of the journey, while Sara carried the diaper bag. He was glad she was toting that heavy thing, especially since it was pink.

"Ahh, I was once a scientist. A machine expert." A strange glint lit up the corner of his eye.

Before they knew it, they stood at the front door of the mansion, Sara giving an enthusiastic knock. A heavyset lady with curly hair answered the door. "Hello? Oh...Sara, you're all here!"

"Hello, Ella!" Sara smiled in reply. "Is Sonic here yet?"

"Yes, and Tails; Sam Speed's visiting as well." Ella nodded and beckoned them inside. She promptly went about announcing their arrival.

Shadow had rarely been seen around the Thorndykes' and hadn't really been inside before, despite Sara's urgings. She'd decided to get to know Chris, Francis, and their friends since they were friends of Sonic. Shadow didn't really mind the humans, but neither did he seek their company. "Sounds like a party." He glanced up at the high ceilings. "...Big place."

Moments later, a boy with spiky brown hair and bright blue eyes appeared in the hall, smiling brightly. "Hey, guys! I'm so glad you came!" His eyes darted to Shadow before they gravitated to the hedgehog Charles. He'd seen Shadow before, sure, but he'd still yet to really interact with him socially, and seeing him with a baby in his arms seemed so...odd. "Ahh...and you must be Uncle Chuck?" he addressed the light blue hedgehog with the gray mustache and brows.

"Yes yes, though it's 'grandfather' these days." He chuckled.

Chris laughed lightly, "Ahh, so it is! Wow...you guys start out so small! I can't believe Sonic's only a few years older than me and already has a kid...I mean...I've just started thinking about having a girlfriend, let alone..."

"Chris," Mr. Tanaka the butler interjected, "perhaps you should show them to our other guests first?" His glasses gleamed.

He nodded reply. "Come on, guys!"

"Chris is a good kid," Mr. Tanaka said in a very offhand way, yet directly to Shadow, who was at the back of the furry lineup. "He's just eager to make and keep his friends." He made a slight bow. "Enjoy your stay, Mr. Shadow."

The room the gang had been ushered into was easily the size of their entire apartment end to end. It boasted not one, but three plush sofas arranged around a big circular table and giant plasma TV. A couple of pizza boxes were littered on the top of the table; Sonic and the others were eating from them. He noted a red-headed man talking very fast and making bad jokes on one side of Sonic. To the other side was a fairly gaunt, balding gray-haired man who could only be Grandpa Chuck.

"Hi, Uncle Chuck!" he was greeted by a bright orange two-tailed fox. "Hi, Sara, Shadow…." He peered at the baby in the black and red hedgehog's arms. Shadow gave him an odd look and held the child defensively. "Hey, I was just looking."

He grunted a bit, but Sara managed to make him drop his guard. She took Maria from his arms and took a seat next to her cousin. He remained standing but leaned over the edge of the couch behind her and listened.

"Sorry to make this a business trip, but I needed some info." Charles the hedgehog stroked his mustache. The rest of the Mobians became quiet and listened.

"Ahh, it's all right. Our government was able to obtain records on your time on the Science Council for the Acorn Kingdom; we thought you could help with security," Sam Speed said, sipping some coffee. "Our Mobian Intelligence Agency has reason to suspect Eggman is on the move."

Grandpa Chuck nodded a bit. "Some of the instruments I developed with Tails here have been detecting some spatial anomalies. It's not unlikely that Eggman's trying to make his own world gate, but...I could use some help deciphering the findings."

"Ahh, so would I be working as an independent with you, Chuck, or for the local government?" The hedgehog was offered coffee or tea, and accepted the former. Sara sighed slightly in envy; she hadn't had caffeinated coffee since she became pregnant and wasn't allowed more than a cup of tea's worth of caffeine on the MRT-recommended diet for nursing mothers.

"Well, in terms of weapons and defenses, the government would like you with us." Sam folded his hands and propped his elbows on his knees; he then leaned onto his hands, looking over the hedgehog in a studying way. "We know you were involved heavily with the war department at one time."

Chuck breathed a deep sigh and stroked his mustache. "While I'd like to forget those days, I do have something of a priority to the people of Mobius and the Acorn Kingdom, more than that of Station Square."

Sam nodded. "The president is willing to cut through some red tape if you've any interest in citizenship."

Both Chuck and Sam glanced over at Sara, visually citing her as reason enough. Shadow couldn't help glaring. "Perhaps a limited contract...I don't want to get too deeply involved. I retired from the Science Council some years ago." Chuck continued, "I also do not want my inventions being abused. Enough of that's been done already."

"Ahh...some of Eggman's technology having started with your involvement in the war ministry?" Sam inquired. He was being quite serious for a change, but managed to stay light enough that the tension wasn't as thick as it could have been.

Chuck nodded gravely. "You have good informants."

"Ah. We hope so." Sam shrugged. "They chose me as an emissary since I've had more dealings with Mobians, and your nephew here, than anyone else on the force." He leaned back on the couch and threw his hands behind his head. "Of course, I can't force you into anything, I'm only relaying what information and offerings they gave me. I do know also..." he glanced at Tails first and then the others, grinning, "your people do what your conscience dictates. Such strong wills are admirable."

Chris' grandfather cut in while a silence settled over the group, "Well, regardless of what the talking heads in the government want, I'm very interested in your opinions on a few things." He scratched the back of his head and his eyes glinted like a kid in a candy store. "I think I could learn a lot from you if Tails is anything to go by; he says he's not half as brilliant."

"I must admit the spatial anomaly interests me more…." Chuck sipped his coffee.

"Ahh well…." The human Chuck paused in thought. "Earth and Mobius are on a parallel. We exist side by side... However..." His face scrunched up slightly as he thought how best to explain it. "Both our dimensions are synchronized. The tilt of our worlds, the spin, the lunar cycles...in almost every way we are directly parallel. Almost. The composition of the continents is different, but the volume of water and distribution is about the same. Now...I've been picking up a third...echo, if you will."

"Another dimension?" Shadow asked, catching onto the conversation quickly enough.

He nodded. "I think so…but it's...skewed. There's something not right about it. It doesn't match up to the kind of echo I get from detecting Mobius, say, through the world gate."

The hedgehog Chuck started to mull it over. "I would like very much to look over these readings you have." He paused, thinking. "This may be more important than you think."

"It won't affect the world gate. will it?" Chris asked. He always worried that the gate between worlds would close and his friends would be on the other side.

"At present, it doesn't look like it, but I can't be sure." His grandpa shrugged.

"So, Charles. What do say?" Sam took another sip of his coffee, which drove Sara nuts. Shadow idly stroked her behind her ears to calm her, having done so out of reflex.

"Hmm...I think I may extend my stay here. Can I have a look at the contract they want? I think I'll submit my own changes if they're serious." He took a look at Shadow comforting his daughter and had to smile a bit at that.

The main business was out of the way, but the stay at the Thorndykes' had hardly begun. Chris busily explained every detail of the things he and his friends had done since Sonic's last visit. He also took great interest in Blitz, Maria, and Sara. He commented about the wild color differences from "Grandpa Chuck" to his granddaughter, though little was said concerning Maria's father. Chris' friends Francis, Danny, and Helen also showed up, lavishing even more attention on the baby hedgehogs and their respective mothers.

Tails had holed himself up with the two scientists, and Sam excused himself, saying he had to get back to work. Shadow kind of wished he had work that day. Nobody seemed particularly inclined to talk to him. Sara was considered the oddity of the group that day, and now that she had Maria in her arms, he was no longer focused on at all. Oh wait, he did have Maria for a little while, since she helped Ella in the kitchen later on.

Most of his day, however, was spent on a couch watching the news on the big plasma TV. _"Two Mobian shrews were in a battle to the death on the streets of Station Square's Regal Plaza district today..." _Shadow reached for a piece of pizza. "_...Mobian authorities say this was a fight over a mate, and as such, no charges are being pressed."_ The anchor woman continued to talk about how Mobian relationships differed from humans, particularly the possessiveness of it. Some psychologists were also consulted, some calling the age-old practices barbaric, opposed to female rights, demeaning...while others praised it for devotion to spouse. Shadow wished his mate could just devote a bit of time to him today.

"Ahh, we've been seeing more stories like that lately," Mr. Tanaka said from behind Shadow, causing him to jump.

"Where the hell did you come from?!"

"My apologies, Mr. Shadow." Somehow, the light reflected perfectly off his glasses so that his eyes were completely obscured from the hedgehog's view; it was...honestly unsettling. "Love is often a fickle thing, isn't it?"

"I guess." He sat back on the couch, giving a glance to Amy and Sara, who were bragging up their babies at the moment on the other side of the room.

"Hard to tell what a woman wants at times, isn't it?" Shadow twitched an ear but said nothing. "Men know what they want," he continued. "It's a shame they often misread the subtle poetry women communicate on a daily basis."

Shadow remembered Sara saying something about having the heart of a poet once. She knew him well enough to finish off his thoughts; he wondered why he couldn't see hers so well. As the hours ticked on, he wondered also, if "Grandpa Chuck" would ever be leaving.


	6. Poetic News

If Shadow was expecting to be compensated in bed that night, he was sorely mistaken. In spite of her being in particularly good spirits, she played the almighty "I'm tired" card. Shadow's objections were quickly nulled by Maria's crying in the room next to them. She'd been rather wound up for the day, so just getting her to bed was a particularly challenging task that night.

Once again, Shadow awoke to an empty spot on the bed next to him. He hadn't had much sense of humor over Chuck's visit to begin with and was very much blaming him for loss of quality time with his mate. This time, there was no note, but Shadow's nose picked up the scent of a particularly appetizing breakfast.

Drawn out of bed by the smell, he made his way to the kitchenette, finding Sara busy at work over a skillet. A cup of decaf was at her side as usual; he grinned at that. He didn't say anything as he stood behind her, listening to her hum as she cooked. He had better sense than a housecat, though, and stayed a couple of steps behind her, should she suddenly back up at any point. She caught onto his presence in a silent exchange, and eventually backed up against him while holding a spatula in one hand and skillet in the other. "Ohayou, Shadou-kun."

Shadow put his arms around her middle, steadying her, as she'd relied on his being there to keep her balance. "Morning, Sara." He licked her behind the ears, both as a gentle kiss and to reinforce his scent claim on her.

"Mmm...I made your favorite." She flipped the pancake resting in the pan and put it back over the burner.

For the first time, Shadow noticed what she was actually working on. Pancakes, cut up slices of banana, pecans, honey...vanilla cream cheese. "Aren't those a little sweet for breakfast?"

Sara pouted a bit. "I just wanted to... for the other day..."

Realization dawned in Shadow that this was a makeup breakfast. His mind quickly searched for a way to smooth things over. "No, no...it's okay." He couldn't bring himself to say he didn't mind; yesterday was his last day off for a while. "It smells great."

Sara brightened and set the pancake on a plate before starting the next one. "I'll be all done in about fifteen minutes."

Even with Chuck there, breakfast went smoothly enough. All too soon for Shadow's taste, he was kissing Sara goodbye for the day. It felt a bit weird displaying affection to her in front of his father-in-law, but he was not about to be denied the little things to which he'd become accustomed.

* * *

The rest of the week went by much the same. Shadow had trouble keeping Sara's attention fixed on him for long before either Maria or Chuck would draw her away. Maria was another thing...Since Chuck was home more than him that week, he'd started responding to her cries, and he found her by her crib even in the evenings when it was Shadow's turn to check on her.

On his lunch breaks, Shadow visited the library and started studying books on poetry. While some of the books were actual poetry books, more of them were commentaries on poetry and what they meant. If Sara was broadcasting some kind of subliminal poetry to him, as Tanaka suggested, then he wanted to understand what the hell she was trying to say to him. Just like dating and relationships, everybody had something different to say about poetry and nobody seemed to agree on a damn thing.

While Sara was taking care of Maria one night, Shadow sat at a desk in their room, looking at the screen of their home computer. Shadow didn't use it very much, but tonight he was doing something that was considered taboo to the two of them. He was sifting through Sara's personal files. An agreement had been set between them that they wouldn't go through each other's stuff without the other present, but there was something specific he was looking for.

Skimming over her art portfolio, he realized she really was a quite talented artist. He smiled at a picture she'd drawn him for Valentine's Day. He knew Chuck would probably have strongly objected to its contents, but it made Shadow smile. He then started digging in her writing folder. A lot of the writing projects had been abandoned or put off some time ago. She kept an online journal that was public, but the private one sitting on the PC in that word folder...that was starting to tempt him. What he was really looking for, though, was a collection of poems she was writing.

File found, he glanced at the door, which was cracked open. His ears strained for noises on the other side. The TV was on and she was chatting with her father. He couldn't tell if Maria was with them, but she was quiet for now. He turned back to the PC and started printing out the pages. For some reason he felt like a thief, an urgency growing with his thirst for hidden knowledge, the crack in the door threatening to open wide and reveal his secrets.

It wasn't like he was viewing Internet porn or anything; he was just printing out a few pages. But even so, he felt the need to cover his tracks. He opened up several files in the word program which were in his personal files, and then closed them one after another. He did the same in the drawing program he'd used to browse Sara's art on. He even cleared the Internet history and emptied the recycle bin. Now there would be no trace that he'd done anything wrong on the PC.

"Shadow?" Sara called from the doorway, just as his hands fell on the small stack of papers printed out next to him. "You're still up?"

"Yeah," he replied, drawing back the papers as casually as possible.

"Whatcha doing?" She walked over to him, Maria cradled in her arms gently.

"Looking through some old files," he said honestly. "I just printed out something for a project I'm working on."

She rested her chin on his head just behind his right ear. "Mmm...all right." She nuzzled him behind the ear lightly. "I'm going to put Maria to bed, then I'll be right with you."

Shadow waited for her to leave the room even before he breathed again. What was it about her that made him feel so...awkward? He put the pages into a folder he used sometimes for work and shut down the PC. His right ear twitched lightly. Maybe, if he wasn't reading her wrong, she was about to make him very happy tonight. Hopes raised, he bounded off to bed in hopeful anticipation.

* * *

Amy came over with Blitz a couple weeks later. It was an off day for Shadow, and while he would've liked to have spent some time alone with Sara, Charles' intrusion on his life was starting to teach him he couldn't always have it his way. Chuck was at the Thorndykes', however, for which Shadow was grateful.

"Hi, Amy! How's Sonic doing?" Sara asked, with Maria clinging to her side, balanced on her hip.

"Oh he's good. Tony's making him work today since someone called off." She sighed in an exaggerated way. Blitz was balanced on her hip in similar fashion.

"I'm just fine, thanks for asking," Shadow said dryly at Sara's side.

Amy blushed a bit, realizing she hadn't included him. "Oh hi, Shadow, I...didn't see you there."

He shrugged. "How long are you staying?"

"Umm..." Amy glanced at Sara, who gave a slightly annoyed look at Shadow.

"Come on in, Amy, you can stay as long as you want." Sara smiled.

Shadow decided to go out for a run while the girls were together. It was still a good way to relieve stress for him, another reason he rather enjoyed his job. While running, he passed Sonic a few times. The rival sparring was always on hold when one of them was on the clock, but he wondered how his relationship compared to the Blue Blur's.

As far as Shadow knew, neither of their parents were either around or cared to visit, so that right there put him in a position where he had a better chance at physical relations. Amy was also extremely clingy and affectionate. He'd noted the pink pincushion clinging to Sonic every time they were together. Even at the Thorndykes', he recalled Amy leaning up against Sonic at every possible opportunity. While not very outwardly affectionate, especially in public, Shadow found his possessive streak seemed to silently demand attention at a moment's notice.

Upon returning home, Shadow entered the apartment very quietly. Amy was still there, and the two were seated on the living room floor, each with cooing babies perched in their laps. As Shadow hadn't drawn their attention yet, he stayed out of sight by the closet and listened in.

"So how's Shadow adjusting to having your dad around?" Amy asked nonchalantly. Blitz was trying to squirm out of her lap. He was still not able to crawl, but he was very anxious to give it a try. Maria seemed to pick up on this and mirror his attempts.

"Ohh...well as can be expected I guess." Sara chuckled and held Maria back gently.

"Nnn... Actually I don't know what to expect from him." She gently set Blitz on the floor. The anxious babe managed to flip himself from his back to his tummy pretty quickly, but the concept of forward momentum seemed to escape him.

"Eh? What's that supposed to mean?" Sara lay Maria down next to him, and she proceeded to practice curling into a spiny ball. Her quills were anything but hard still, so she didn't discourage the action. Blitz quickly copied her.

"Well..." Amy paused:It's just...I can't imagine..." she started, "well, I can't see Shadow being very affectionate."

Sara burst out laughing, "Amy? Weren't you the one who defended him after that horrible first meeting on Mobius?"

"I know, I know!" Amy ran her fingers through her quills. "But still, I mean...none of us really know Shadow very well, and he's never been very...social, so I just want to know...you know, that I didn't make a mistake getting you two together."

Sara's ears twitched lightly. "No, I don't think so." She gingerly slipped her fingers between Maria's quills, knowing exactly how not to get poked, and tickled the babe, causing her to uncurl immediately in a fit of laughter.

"So what is he like?" Amy watched Blitz uncoil enough to see Maria giggling next to him with some measure of jealousy.

"Shadow? Well…." She turned her assault on Blitz as well, having both hedgebabies paralyzed with laughter. "He's actually very physical in private," she began. "Not very talkative, but I've gotten used to that."

"_Very physical_?" Amy grinned. "Ooooh?"

Sara laughed a bit, "Yes, yes, really." She leaned in and nuzzled both babies. "Aww aren't you so cute??"

"Come on!" Amy continued, "You can't just leave it at that, I have to know more."

"Ahh...and what about Sonic? Isn't he _physical_ enough for you?" Sara sat back up, drawing Maria into her arms and stroking her gently to calm her.

The pink one blushed, "Well... actually he's not as...well I mean, he..." She twitched an ear lightly while she thought about it. "I'm usually the instigator as far as affection goes." She picked Blitz up and attempted to calm him, though he was distinctly more restless than Maria. "Ahh! But once Sonic gets started he's hard to stop."

Sara chuckled again. "Shadow is a bit...insistent." Sara shrugged, "But I kind of like that. He lets me know he needs me." A warm smile drew on her face. "Even though he doesn't say it, I see it in his eyes all the time." Her voice soft and filled with pride. "I know it seems like he spaces out sometimes, but he's just thinking... He's surprisingly thoughtful. I love him," she said with finality to it.

"Aww...now I'm jealous!" Amy shook her head.

Sara laughed lightly, "I'm sure Sonic needs you too. It's just, you and Shadow are alike." She laughed again at Amy's face. Even Shadow did a double take at that, as if he hadn't heard right. "Well, you and Shadow had a lot more to gain or lose by taking a risk on a mate. So, of course, you feel like you need to work hard at keeping it going."

She nodded a bit. "So you're saying, I don't have to worry about it?"

"No...I mean, relationships are a two way street, it's just...you're not the only one walking that path." Maria gave one of her hungry cries. "Ahh, you mind?"

Amy shook her head and Sara unbuttoned her blouse so Maria could feed. "You know, Uncle Chuck's still not sure he's good for you...that's why I'm being so nosey." Shadow didn't like hearing that Daddy Dearest had sent Amy to spy. "Sorry."

"It's okay, he's just being protective." She chuckled. "I wonder what Shadow will be like when Maria's old enough to date?"

"Shadow?" Amy's eyes went wide. "Ohh my, I feel sorry for whoever wants to go out with her!" The two laughed.

Shadow decided he'd heard enough and opened and closed the front door again with far less stealth. "Sara? I'm back…." He walked over to the living room.

"Hi, Shadow!" Amy greeted.

"Hi," he replied with an icy cold stare. A shiver ran through her spine as though her blood had just turned to ice water. _Yeah...really friendly guy..._ He sat next to Sara and Maia, putting an arm around her and resting his head on her shoulder. "Miss me?"

Sara leaned up against Shadow, and Amy had a momentary glimpse of how he was around her. It was as though he had completely blocked Amy's presence from his mind so that only Sara and Maria existed in his sight. "Yeah. Welcome home."


	7. Unwanted News

"So what do you think, Charles?" Grandpa Chuck asked the hedgehog with a yawn. He reached for his seventh cup of coffee since 7 PM last night.

The hedgehog Charles also yawned, "Well, I'm thinking that the displacement we're seeing has to do with the element of time."

Human Charles nodded. "I think you're right. If we're seeing a third dimension here, it's also displaying the kind of mass and tilt as Mobius and Earth, but is out of synch where time and space are concerned."

"I'm not sure what kind of problems will come from that, but it seems like the third echo is getting closer." Charles hedgehog reached for his cup of coffee as well.

Chuck Thorndyke nodded in agreement. "If it continues, then there will be another collision between worlds." He paused thoughtfully. "But which world will be impacted first?"

"Hmmm...I'm not sure myself. If the rate of synchronization remains steady, then I'd say by August, travel to and from the World Gate will be risky business." Chuck took another sip of his coffee and sighed. "Maybe I should take that government job...if Eggman's involved this could be real trouble."

"So you don't think it's a natural occurrence either?"

"No..." Uncle Chuck stroked his mustache thoughtfully. "Not entirely at least."

Mr. Thorndyke stretched a bit and looked out at the shining blue sky through the window. "Chaos Control certainly sped things along for our two worlds, didn't it?"

"So it would seem. There's a slight jump in the readings from two weeks ago. That could be caused by a power like the Chaos Emeralds," the hedgehog commented. "I think I'll write the monarchy requesting information on Eggman's movements. I can't be certain, but there seems to be a cross-dimensional pull..."

"Eggman...hmmm…." Chuck Thorndyke took on a more serious look. "Yes, that could be it. If he's involved then chances are his intentions are not friendly."

"I really appreciate you showing this to me." Chuck tapped a foot much the way his nephew did. "Perhaps our next project should be some kind of probe so we can see what's on the other side of the echo?"

"Ahh, good idea. I almost feel like I've met myself in a furry blue package." The human laughed. "You know, since you've been staying here the last few days anyway, why don't we just consider you a guest as long as we're on this research project?"

"I think I'd like that…." He glanced out the window at the ritzy neighborhood and then back toward the city proper. "I thought I'd spend a bit more time with my daughter, but if I'm staying in town then that shouldn't be a problem."

"Ahh... Family is really important. I was worried about my grandson Chris since his parents have been away so much, but since Sonic's come around they've started spending more time with him." The scientist nodded. "I understand if you don't want to stay."

"Mr. Thorndyke, Mr. Charles," Tanaka called from the lab door. "Your presence in the dining room is required. Ella has just made a superb lunch. We are all waiting on you."

"We'll be there in a minute then!" Chuck replied as his stomach growled its own reply. Both Charles laughed.

* * *

"Want to go to the park?" Shadow put an arm around Sara, who was looking out the main window in their apartment.

"Hnn...I haven't heard from Dad in a couple days," she commented.

Shadow frowned a bit. "He's fine, he's over at the Thorndykes', right?" he assured her.

"I guess…." She kept looking out the window.

"So just give them a call or something." He pulled her a little closer but sensed some resistance from her.

"I don't have their home number."

"So call Amy or someone...your dad doesn't have a cell?" Sara shook her head and sighed. Shadow sighed as well, though not for the same reasons. "Then we'll stop by the Thorndykes'."

Sara lit up. "Honto?"

"Yes, really." He rolled his eyes at her use of Japanese. She embraced him in a tight hug, causing him to smile. She kissed his cheek and hurried to the bedroom to get ready. Shadow shook his head. Sighing slightly, he went into the baby's room to get Maria.

He entered the "rainbow room," as it had been dubbed, and walked over to the human-sized, Mobian-altered crib. As he approached, though, his ears detected an odd pattern to her breathing. "Maria?" he called gently as he stood up on the toy chest and leaned over the rail. She was asleep, but her breathing was offbeat and labored. A surge of panic started to mount in the back of his head as he reached for the tiny hedgehog. Her body was rather hot to the touch. "Sara?! Sara...!"

* * *

Going to the Thorndykes' was quickly forgotten and Shadow found himself in one of the MRT waiting rooms with a very anxious Sara at his side. The receptionist told them Dr. Garrett wasn't available, but his substitute was a wonderful replacement and they couldn't ask for better. Still, it did little to alleviate Sara's concerns as she held a now very fussy Maria to her chest.

It was easy at times to forget they weren't the only Mobians who lived on Earth. The MRT now had a number of regular patients, and there was even talk that their free service offer wouldn't be available much longer, save to the rarer species of Mobians. "Mr. and Mrs. Shadow?" the nurse called. Sara was immediately on her feet, Shadow just a step behind her. "The doctor's ready to see Maria now."

Shadow remembered back in February, being through the long clinical white halls in search of his mate. That was back when she'd given birth to the little hedgehog, but seeing her suddenly ill tied a knot in his stomach.

"Wait here, please." The nurse led them to another room, where the couple was forced to wait.

Shadow thought Sara looked very small and insecure. The way she cradled Maria told him that much. What could he say? 'It's all right?' He didn't know if it was or would be. 'I'm scared too?' He was; he didn't want to lose anyone he cared about...that even included Sonic._Bastard better not die before me..._ But he had to do something. He moved up next to his mate and wrapped his arms around both her and Maria. Sara's quills reflexively flared more than she wanted, but his grip remained firm.

"I'm here." Her eyes filled with tears.

Moments later, the door opened and in walked a yellow Mobian duck, carrying a clipboard. He was followed by another human doctor. Shadow thought he recognized the duck, but he wasn't sure from where. "Let's see...baby hedgehog...Maria…." He glanced up from the clipboard, his eyes wide. "_The_ Shadow the hedgehog?"

"Dr. Quack?" Sara blinked in recognition at him.

The duck smiled briefly, then frowned at Shadow, whose face and neck were covered in scratches from Sara's quills, and some blood. "Ahh...you can clean up at the sink," he said, addressing him first and then turning to Sara with a small smile. "Hey, I haven't seen you in a while. So Maria's your baby?" He took a seat in front of Sara, who nodded. "You need to watch those quills."

"You two know each other?" Shadow went over to the sink and started cleaning up the scratches. The human seemed a bit disturbed by that but said nothing.

"Yep. I've been Sara's physician since she was little. Name's Dr. Quack. This is my assistant Frank," he said as he began examining the baby. "You're warm, aren't you, lil' one? Hmmm…."

"Is she going to be okay?" Sara inquired, having given up the bundle in her arms to the duck.

"Well, that's why you brought her here. The chart said her symptoms are fever, irregular breathing, and sluggishness….." Quack rattled off as he held a stethoscope to her chest. "Sounds like meningitis." He made a few comments to the human, who nodded in understanding.

Shadow twitched an ear. "Is it serious?"

"It can be, if it's the bacterial kind." Quack smiled and spoke kindly to the baby, interjecting a few tickles and approving noises of the small charge. "I think she'll be fine; it's actually quite common in children. I'll just give you two prescriptions, an antibiotic, and something for the temperature."

Sara sighed in relief. "Oh that's good to hear." Shadow took a damp cloth and started washing his blood off the ends of her quills, her tenseness starting to melt away. "What are you doing here, Doc?" She gave an apologetic look to Shadow; he just kissed her forehead lightly in reply.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm part of the MRT right now," he explained, "Since the exchange rate between worlds has been steadily increasing, we need to fill in the gaps of our medical knowledge on both ends. As such, Dr. Garrett is on Mobius right now, advancing his Mobian studies, and helping share Earth medical practices. The Mobian version would be the HRT, Human Research Team."

"Ahh..." She relaxed notably when Quack handed her baby back.

"We actually have a lot in common with humans," Quack continued. "Dose amounts seem to be the biggest difference." He went over to a shelf and sifted through some medications until he found what he wanted. He then started writing on a piece of paper. "The MRT's done very well in adapting human medical practices to a Mobian level," he finished and handed both the medication and the note to Shadow. "The boxes are sample versions of the medicine I'm prescribing. Her fever isn't high enough to be a danger right now and will actually help burn out the infection. Keep an eye on it, though; if it gets any higher, don't hesitate to use the fever medicine. The antibiotic should help kill the infection and should be given every twelve hours."

"Thanks." Shadow slipped the prescription note into his glove and the medicine into the baby bag, which he was forced to carry since Sara was in charge of Maria.

"Other than that, she seems in good shape." Quack smiled. "You two have a beautiful baby."

* * *

Shadow brought them home as fast as he could without giving Maria too much of a breeze. Sara even shivered a bit, but he didn't typically run with her in his arms. "You okay?" Shadow asked, slowing his pace some when she shivered.

"I'm fine…just glad Maria will be okay." Sara smiled, holding their bundled up child.

"Yeah, she'll be crying and pooping and eating and crying and pooping more in no time," Shadow commented in the driest tone possible, eliciting laughter from Sara.

"Was that supposed to be a joke?"

"It made you laugh, right?" Shadow slowed as they approached the apartment building.

The two entered the apartment in good enough spirits after the whole ordeal, though a very concerned looking Charles hedgehog was waiting for them inside. "Where have you two been? I tried calling you and got no answer. I've been worried sick!"

"Sorry Daddy, I…. Oh my! We were going to stop by the Thorndykes' to see you, I completely forgot!" Sara replied. She'd also forgotten her cell phone in the rush to take Maria to the MRT.

Shadow frowned a bit. '_Sorry, Daddy?'_ "Maria's sick; we took her to the MRT. Sorry we're not on _your_ schedule, old man," he said with a full scowl on his face.

The room went completely silent. Sara's eyes were wide and fixed on the door to the baby's room. Chuck was staring open mouthed at Shadow. Shadow was glaring at Chuck, and the baby was...being a baby. Her cries, of course, were an excellent way of breaking silence. "Ahh...I'm going to put Maria to bed," Sara said and hurried into the rainbow room.

"What did you say?" Chuck said in some disbelief at Shadow.

"She's not in _your_ house anymore. This is _my_ apartment. She's_my mate_ and _my_ concern," Shadow spoke plainly. His red eyes fixed on his in-law.

There was some silence. "Shadow..."

"I've been putting up with you for _her_ sake," he cut in.

Charles and Shadow continued to stare a bit, the baby's cries filtering through the wall to them. "She is still my daughter, and _I care_ about her."

"She's just fine. We've been fine... She's not a little girl anymore, you don't need to watch her to make sure she's happy, okay??" He might as well get it off his furry white chest.

Chuck coughed lightly. "Actually...I was going to tell you I'm going to move into the Thorndyke manor while I continue my research with Charles Thorndyke... However, I can see that while my presence may not be wanted by you, I think it's in my daughter's best interest to stick around... You've got quite a temper..."

Shadow's quills bristled sharply as he realized what he'd just done._BAKA..._

* * *

For those wondering, Baka means idiot in Japanese. Now Shadow's catching the Nihongo bug XD 


	8. Disquieting Moments

"No," Shadow said flatly.

"Hmmm?" Chuck looked back at his son-in-law with an unreadable expression. He took note of the scratches all over him and guessed they'd been fighting. "What was that?"

"No...I don't want you staying here anymore," Shadow said very seriously. "Go stay at Sonic's if you want to stay close, just not here."

Chuck was quiet a bit, considering. He really couldn't stay the way his project was going, and that could impact lives far beyond him and his daughter. Still, Shadow was being decidedly unfriendly or cooperative with him. He considered his options, "Perhaps...but...I'd like a few minutes with _my_ daughter...I mean, if _you_ don't mind."

Shadow snorted. "Fine..." _You've got five minutes…._ he wanted to say, but thought better of it. "I'll even help you carry your things to the Thorndykes' when you're ready."

"...Why thank you," Chuck said in an overly polite tone.

"I have to go pick up Maria's prescription anyway... Take all the time you need," Shadow said, leaving the apartment behind.

The older hedgehog went into the baby's room to check on both Sara and the baby. "Sorry about that, Sara." He took a seat on a rainbow chair, while Sara was in the rocker.

"Yeah..." She kept her gaze on Maria, rocking her gently back and forth. She'd finally stopped crying.

Chuck took a look at his daughter, a good long look. Yes, she was still a teenager, but she had grown up so fast. Too fast, maybe? "Sara..." he started. Maybe by Mobian standards she was adult enough to have a mate and all, and she looked quite comfortable in her role as a mother, but he couldn't help seeing the little girl he helped raise. She did look very much like her mother... "Sara...you know...I was young and foolish once."

"Shadow's not foolish, he just...he wants to protect me too, you know," she said quietly.

"Yeah…." He paused. "You know a lot of people said I was a bad influence on your mother?"

Her deep brown eyes caught his with interest. He rarely spoke of her mom since she passed away. "Really?"

"Mmmhmm…." He folded his hands onto his lap. "She even had second thoughts about _us_."

"Now why would she do that?" Once Maria was sound asleep, she went over to the crib to tuck her in properly.

"She was afraid... She was younger than me, and the first of her friends to have a mate." He shrugged, "There was another boy who really liked her. Her friends kept saying she should have had him as a mate...almost wound up dueling over her."

This was news to Sara. "Well that's stupid, you and mom made a great couple, right?"

"Eventually yes...but there was a while...where she left me," Chuck managed to say.

Sara's left ear twitched lightly. "Daddy? Why are you telling me this...?"

"I'm just saying...if things get out of hand with Shadow, you can always come to me," he replied in a warm tone.

"Nothing's out of hand." She looked at him with a slightly betrayed expression. "Didn't Amy tell you? I love him, Papa... Why would I even think of leaving him?"

"Sara...you should know as well as anyone that he's got potential to be _very_ dangerous…."

"The same could be said of Sonic, but you're not telling Amy to leave him, are you?" She blinked and propped a hand on her hip. "Or is it just because she's not your daughter?"

Chuck looked a bit ashamed. "I'm sorry...I just don't...see what you see in him." He sighed. "I love you too...and I worry, that's all...I...wasn't the most responsible guy at his age, and he does have a temper... Those scratches all over him...did you two have a fight?"

"Daddy!" Sara's turn to look ashamed. "It wasn't like that…."

Charles stepped over to her and gave her a kiss to her forehead, and a tight embrace. "Just...think about things, will you?" He let go when she nodded. "I'll be staying at the Thorndykes' for a while, and not because of what Shadow said." He sighed a bit. "You've really grown into a beautiful lady..." He shook his head in disbelief.

---------------

Shadow found himself sleeping on the sofa-bed that night in Charles' stead. It did put him in a position to check on Maria more frequently, however, and since he had insomnia that night, that wasn't a problem. He knew kicking Chuck out of the house wouldn't go over well with Sara, but he had to do something about the situation.

Everything was driving him nuts. Maria's crying was driving him nuts. Not having Sara to himself was driving him nuts. Having her, but having her mad at him was driving him nuts. The scratches she gave him earlier that day were driving him nuts.

This was certainly not poetry in motion. If it was, it was like an abstract painting; it made no sense. He sighed as he returned from the rainbow room for the 78th time that night. He grabbed the remote to the TV to see if there was anything interesting on. How was he supposed to read subtle poetry into things? She was anything but subtle right now... Maybe he needed to give up on the poetry.

"Oh shit..." Why did he remember the poems he printed out now? In the middle of a sleepless night?

He sneaked off to his and Sara's room, but he found she wasn't asleep either, as he cracked the door open. She was online talking to someone in an IM, fingers flying at the keys. Undoubtedly she was telling the person on the other end what a horrible bastard he was to her. Maybe he should be a horrible bastard; being patient and understanding wasn't working.

He saw the folder sitting next to her by the keyboard. She had some instant decaf next to her, so he knew it was only a matter of time before the coffee worked its way through her system and she'd be on her way to the bathroom. _Patience..._

He went back to the couch and pretended to be asleep, while Dirty Jobs was playing on Discovery. By the time she was ready for a bathroom break, the station was playing some infomercial about the latest Ginsu knife collection. Knowing she never spent a lot of time in the bathroom (unless she was bathing), he moved in quickly for the folder. He was about to leave when he noticed the IM conversation open on the desktop.

_OrangeHedgie: So I'll be stopping by Station Square next week._

_SaraHedgie: Really? Wow, I haven't seen you in years!_

_OrangeHedgie: Think you could show me around?_

_SaraHedgie: I don't know, Shadow's been a bit edgy just with my father around... I don't know how he'd take a male hedgehog being around me._

_OrangeHedgie: LoL! Come on, not like I'm going to steal you for my own, right?_

_SaraHedgie: BrB_

_OrangeHedgie: ...Still have that bracelet I gave you?_

The sound of the bathroom door alerted Shadow, and he flew back out of the bedroom with the folder. "Ehh..? Still awake?" Sara asked with a yawn upon exiting the bathroom.

"Yeah...Maria's been keeping me up...haven't you heard?" He shrugged, hiding the folder under a pillow.

Sara's expression softened a bit. "Ahhh... You've been good at responding to her, I haven't really heard a thing for hours." She paused. "Mmm...I'm having trouble sleeping... If you want you can come back to bed."

"..Thanks...maybe in a few," Shadow replied. He watched her go back into the bedroom, the poetry again leaving his mind. Exactly who was OrangeHedgie? How well did he know her? Was he talking about the friendship bracelet she about chewed his head off over on more than one occasion? He realized he hadn't really made an effort to find out who Sara's friends were, especially since he didn't really have that many himself. Maybe he should've paid closer attention.

---------------------

He didn't know what to do or say when he got back to bed that night. There was a certain kind of distance between him and Sara. He lay on his side of bed, awake as he'd been in the living room, just with a better view. Sara, on the other hand, had tried to bridge that gap as soon as he came to bed. She apologized about a number of things, and he'd nodded acknowledgment. She was partly curled on her side, facing toward him. He wanted to reach out and touch her, say something, but he couldn't.

With Sara having to frequently check on Maria, she had no time to make lunch for the two of them the following day. That was fine; Shadow was well resigned to having Vinnie's Pizza again. He almost hoped the place would be robbed so he could work out his aggressions that oh so worried poor Uncle…no, Grandpa Chuck. He remembered that Sonic wasn't working that day, so he was free to spar if their paths should cross.

The bell rang on the door to Vinnie's Pizza, and he was greeted enthusiastically by its owner. "Heeey, Shadow! How ya been?"

"Not so good, Tony," Shadow replied honestly for a change.

The caramel-haired human had to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "Hmm? What's the trouble, pal?"

"Lots of things...Sara's dad's been here visiting...Maria's sick...and I saw this IM she had up last night..."

"Whoa, whoa." The human came around the counter and sat down in one of the waiting room chairs. "Have a seat... So...the in-law's been giving you problems?" He saw Shadow nod. "Probably thinks you're a no-good bum out to take advantage of his lil' angel."

Shadow laughed a bit. "Yeah, that's about the size of it."

"All in-laws are like that." He grinned. "Don't worry, most of them get over it. So...next problem...the kid... Seen a doctor?"

Shadow nodded, "Yeah, doc gave us some antibiotics... Said she'll be fine."

"Okay, so that just leaves you and the missus."

Shadow's ear twitched a bit. "I love her...but it just seems so complicated...Mr. Tanaka said something about women and them like...having this subtle poetry...but I just can't see it."

Tony listened and nodded. "Poetry? He probably wasn't talking about literal poetry... Ya know, women use body language to communicate a lot."

"Body language? So how do I read it?" Shadow asked in all seriousness.

"Heh, well, it's slightly different for everyone...but..." He scratched the back of his head. "It's kind of like a dance...you learn the steps and you won't step on nobody's toes."

"Great…. Poetry, body language…dancing." Shadow rubbed his forehead.

Tony laughed. "It's not that bad. You just gotta learn what buttons to push." Shadow fixed him with a glare for adding yet one more metaphor to an already complicated picture. He threw up his hands in surrender quickly, though, laughing. "Hey hey...settle down. Look, I know you're crazy about her so..." he paused, "think about what things you do that make her happy...little things... Ya give her a kiss? Tell her she smells pretty? Give her flowers? Chocolates? Tell her you love her?"

Shadow sighed a bit. "That's the thing, I guess...I know I make her happy, but it seems like every time I do, something happens…."

"Yeah, that's life." Tony shrugged a bit. "Sometimes it'll come easy, sometimes not..." He paused a bit, looking at the serious hedgehog next to him. "Tell her you love her more often."

"Huh??" He looked up from his sulking position. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't really remember telling her he loved her all that often. He clearly remembered Sara confessing her love for him to Amy, though.

"Simplest thing in the world, really." He smiled warmly and started back toward the counter. "You love each other, so naturally, you stop sayin' it after a while. You just assume she knows, or she assumes you know...but..." He picked up the pizza order and set it on the counter for Shadow. "It's really good to hear it now and again."

"How often do you say it to your wife?" Shadow pulled a couple of bills from his glove and handed them to Tony.

"Every day." He smiled warmly as he calculated Shadow's change and handed it to him.

"Huh..." Shadow took it and the pizza. "Thanks...I mean it."

"Any time, buddy!" Tony beamed. He knew he wasn't talking about the pizza.


	9. Interesting News

The following week, Chuck was largely absent from Shadow's life, which was a small mercy to him. He couldn't stop thinking about who this "OrangeHedgie" character was. Well, from the context of the IM it seemed that he'd given Sara the friendship bracelet she wore up ontil about half a year ago. According to Chuck, it had been from a friend who disappeared a couple years ago, possibly even died. He hadn't considered, somehow, that the friend would be male or of the same species. If he were on better terms with his in-law, he stood a far greater chance at finding out exactly what he wanted to know.

Sara said nothing to him about the IM or even any indication that she was interested in anyone other than Shadow. As well, Shadow had tried taking Tony's advice about telling her he loved her. It was...a bit awkward. The words never seemed to sound right to him. He found himself practicing in front of the mirror in the bathroom.

"I love you…." He sighed. _I wouldn't believe me..._ He scowled. That he was good at. He examined himself in the mirror for a while. He experimented with expressions and found that his face was not entirely welcoming. "I love you! I love you I love you! DAMN IT!..." Shadow growled. Why was it so hard to grasp an emotion? He knew it was there, he knew he felt it... Maybe it was his concern of that IM. Talking to Sara about it, though...would mean admitting he'd spied on her.

"Shadow?" She knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you all right? You've been in there a long time. Daijoubu?"

"Yeah..." Shadow snapped.

"Well... I'm going out with Amy for the day and I kind of need to get ready..." She wondered what had him so upset but couldn't think of anything offhand. Maria responded wonderfully to the medications, so that wasn't a factor. She'd even begun crawling the other day.

Shadow sighed in a resigned kind of way and opened the door for her. He stayed in the doorway even after she'd entered, which began a bit of staring match. "... I..."

"Yes, Shadow?" She gave him a strange, yet amused look. She knew he had trouble expressing himself, but it made for some real Kodak moments.

"I love you." There. He said it. Quickly. But he said it.

There was a moment of silence. Sara was smiling, so that was a good sign. She reached her hand to his forehead. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Huh?"

She kissed his forehead gently. "I love you too. But what brought this on?"

"What...do you mean?" He raised a brow.

"Hnnn...just the way you said it I guess...trying to prove something?" She picked up a brush and started running it through her bangs. "You're always so serious." A smile clung to her face.

Was he trying to prove something? He sighed; he had to admit he was serious. "Sorry..."

"Mmm..." She finished brushing her quills quickly and sifted through a basket of assorted, very highly unorganized hair clips. "You don't have to apologize. It's nice to hear, y' know?" Shadow smiled a bit at that. She pulled out a couple of rainbow hair clips and her primping was done. "I won't be out late, okay?"

Shadow nodded. "All right..." As Sara started coming out of the bathroom, he felt an impulse he could safely act on and pulled her into a hug. He licked her behind the ears and nuzzled her lightly. "...I love you." There, that was more natural.

"I love you too," she whispered softly to him and returned the hug.

* * *

While Sara was out for the day, Shadow was left with Maria and the Discovery Channel to keep him company. Maria was starting to scoot around on her hands and knees, and Shadow had to keep an even closer watch over her. She seemed to have a couch, chair, and coffee table radar, but no stopping mechanism. After about the fourth time picking her up from a near collision with the couch, he remembered hiding the poetry folder in its cracks.

"Come on, settle down." He set her on one side of the couch and rummaged behind the pillows for the folder. Much to his relief, it was right where he'd hidden it. "I said settle down! Maria!" He dropped the folder quickly and scrambled to keep her from going over the edge of the couch headfirst. "Quit doing that..." He sighed.

He flipped through the channels until he found something that held Maria's interest, settling on Sponge Bob Squarepants. "Why does it have to be something I hate so very very much?" he grumbled lightly, but at least Maria was mesmerized to the point of staying at her father's side rather than trying to dive off the couch.

At last he had time to flip through the poetry. But Poetry and Sponge Bob were not a good match. Maria's squeals of joy, while amusing at other times, were beginning to grate on his nerves. She would clap her hands if she saw someone on TV clap their hands, and her attempts to dance made her a wriggling worm with sharp spines trying to dig into Shadow's sides. Maybe this wasn't the best idea...

Shadow changed the channel to some PBS channel and Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" series was on. That proved boring enough to put Maria into a half coma in seconds. Sighing in relief, Shadow picked up his precious girl and put her to bed. He then turned the TV off and tried once again to read Sara's poetry.

The room felt kind of stuffy and cramped, in spite of the bright sunshine coming through the windows. Shadow once again got up and opened said windows. The breeze was refreshing, but it also made the bedroom door creek open. He went over to close it and noticed the PC on. Although brighter out, this was a familiar scene, and once again the poetry quickly became forgotten.

He sat down at the desk and looked to see what was running. Her Gmail account was sitting open. _OrangeHedgie..._ He saw the name again. He clicked on the e-mail, not even noticing the subject line.

_Dear Sara,_

_How are you? I just arrived in Station Square the other day, the city's pretty big. Did you say you live somewhere in the Regal Plaza section? I heard they have a great mall out that way. You remember Ray the Squirrel? He said he'd show me around, but he works part time at Twinkle Park. I was thinking, since he works Friday, we could hang out a bit?_

_I know you said you have a mate and child now...I can hardly believe it. If he's a decent guy though, he shouldn't be threatened by me, right? lol. I promise I won't take you anywhere romantic! Just an arcade or two, and maybe pizza, who could resist that? Ha!_

_Please tell me yes Sarakins! This is going to be one of the most boring visits ever if I can't kick your ass at DDR._

_-Duo_

Well, now Shadow had a name attached to the orange hedgehog. His urge to turn him into paste grew with every word and... -_Sarakins-_? What the hell was with that? She'd already read the e-mail...he wondered if he should delete it or if she'd replied already. A flashing icon in the startup tray drew his attention with the words "IM from OrangeHedgie." ...Urge to kill rising.

Without thinking, he moved the mouse to the conversation. The last message had been received two minutes ago. The status wasn't busy... He was there, waiting for her to reply. First he checked the message history.

_OrangeHedgie: Did you get my Email Sara?_

_SaraHedgie: Yeah I did._

_OrangeHedgie: So:3_

_SaraHedgie: Ahh... I'm going out with Amy today, so I can't show you around._

_OrangeHedgie: That's cool, but I was talking about Friday? Ray's said he can get us free tickets._

_SaraHedgie: Duo... I really don't think Shadow will want me to hang out with you!_

_OrangeHedgie: Oh come on...are you afraid of him or something?_

_SaraHedgie: No!_

_OrangeHedgie: I dare you then. :P_

_SaraHedgie: Quit being so pushy... Nnn... I would like to see you but I'm going to have to say no._

_OrangeHedgie: Aww : You're breaking my heart. We haven't seen each other in two years, and after Eggman's attack everybody thought I was dead. Doesn't that merit sympathy points? Come on, hang out with a dead guy for an after_

_OrangeHedgie: noon :3_

_SaraHedgie: ...Duo you baka... sigh I'll ask Shadow when I get back from Amy's._

_OrangeHedgie: THANK YOU! _

_OrangeHedgie has sent you a nudge._

_SaraHedgie has gone Idle._

_SaraHedgie back from Idle._

_OrangeHedgie has sent you a nudge._

_OrangeHedgie has sent you a nudge._

_OrangeHedgie has sent you a nudge._

_OrangeHedgie: ...You there girlfriend?_

Shadow's quills bristled and an eyebrow twitched uncontrollably. This asshole was really starting to piss him off. At least Sara's replies had been in his favor. He'd also made extra sure to scent mark her regularly since this OrangeHedgie came to his attention, and he was beginning to feel that wasn't so unfounded. His fingers stayed over the keyboard, wondering if he should say anything. He could be really really rude and tell him to buzz off (though in much more colorful language). He could also ask to meet him somewhere and then beat the shit out of him too.

The report about the shrews came to mind. Mating was a serious thing to most Mobian species, and Hedgehogs were strongly included in that. He knew if Sara'd been out with Amy because her perfume would linger a bit, or if she was with Sonic…even human scents stuck around a while. Even after a shower, his mark on her was the only scent that seemed to pierce through the lavender or lilac scented shampoo she favored, and that was the scent that counted most. He'd easily know if she sneaked off to see him, but on the other hand, her nose was pretty sharp too, and he was pretty sure she remembered his scent. Beating him to a pulp without any real reason was starting to look like a bad idea.

A knock at the door drew Shadow's attention from the PC. "Just a minute!" He got up and headed to the door. He stopped just long enough to hide the poetry before answering the door. "Yeah?"

"Hey, cousin!" Sonic grinned, Blitz held in his arms wearing his daddy's smug grin and clapping his hands.

"I told you _not_ to call me that." Shadow growled a little, but backed away from the door to let him in.

"It's cool. How's Maria?" He let himself in and sat down on the couch, sifting around for the elusive remote.

"She's okay," he replied. "What the hell are you doing here anyway?"

"Amy's out so I was wondering if you wanted to go for a run." Sonic shrugged and turned on the TV. Avatar was playing on Nickelodeon. "Ooohh... Look, Blitz, that's the Fire Nation stooges, they use fire! Big windbags." He laughed. Blitz made like he was blowing out a candle.

Shadow sighed. He looked out the windows again at the bright afternoon sky. It had been a while since he'd just been able to run. Maria was over her cold, so if he just bundled her up enough... And maybe he'd find an orange hedgehog while they were out. "Well then shut the TV off, I just have to leave Sara a note."

"Huh?" The Blue Blur glanced over his shoulder. Shadow agreed with him? "Uhh...did the Lava Reef just freeze over or do I need my ears checked?"

"I don't feel like staying inside." Shadow shrugged and sifted through the catch-all table for a post-it note and pen.

"Um...cool."


	10. Impulsive Moments

Shadow was the one late getting home that evening. He and Sonic had run about every street in downtown Station Square and even run through some of the forest and valley areas. Shadow was a little jumpy whenever he thought he saw anyone in orange, which Sonic found to be a little odd. The two had actually had a good time. The kids hadn't really had a chance to see their fathers in action, and both Blitz and Maria seemed to enjoy the thrilling speeds. Who needed a roller coaster when your father was a lot faster and safer to travel with?

Sara was the serious one that night for a change. It seemed Orangeboy had pressured her enough for her to ask about showing him around. "Shadow...umm, this _guy._..he was a friend of mine...well, he's in town and he wanted to know if I could show him around Friday." She bit her lower lip, awaiting an answer. Shadow was just staring her down wordlessly. "I mean, if it's no, that's fine! Really!" She gave a nervous laugh.

Shadow took a deep breath but remained silent. He'd done nothing but think about the billion ways he wanted to say "_Hell no."_ She was even giving him the ability to say no. He twitched an ear._Any really confident guy would be okay with it, right?_ Somehow Shadow didn't think there were many men on either Mobius or Earth who would like their mates/wives going out with a "male friend" they knew nothing about. "So how long have you known this guy?" he blurted out finally.

"Oh...he and I grew up together on Mobius." There was a bit of a spark in her eye as she said that, and Shadow didn't care for it. "We liked playing games together. Hide and seek and stuff...then video games. We were collecting Pokémon cards before it was popular." She laughed a bit.

"...You really want to see him?" One of Shadow's ears stuck out to the side.

Sara looked a bit unsure. "I don't know, actually...I mean I want to...but it's been a while." He twitched his ear and remained quiet. Sara looked even more unsure of herself; that was rare. Even when she was stressed, she knew why and focused on it; he'd hardly ever seen her indecisive. "You know? I mean, he was my friend and all...but I don't know if he's changed in the last two years, or if we could even be friends...and...well he's a hedgehog so I thought you might...get jealous or something, and I don't want you two fighting."

Shadow thought back to Sara's father briefly. He'd always let her make her own decisions, and she had ultimately chosen him as her mate. He wondered if the old man would have been for or against this orange one. He saw the uncertainty in her eyes and pulled her into a hug, lightly licking her behind the ears while he thought about it. She was actually shaking... _Why?_

"So what if you missed this chance to see him?"

"Huh?"

"...It's important to you..." He stroked her quills gently, ready to withdraw his hand if she tensed up. "You've obviously thought about this a lot...right?"

Sara was quiet a minute, enjoying her mate's gentle touch. "…Yeah...more than I want to."

"Then go ahead. It's just one day, right?" He felt her nod against his chest. She relaxed into him considerably, having been given permission. He wasn't entirely happy with it; he would have to work Friday, so there was no way he could spy on her. Asking Amy or Sonic to do it for him also didn't settle well with him. The next best thing, though, and an idea he was particularly keen on, was making sure his scent was _all over her_. Since he had her so relaxed, it wouldn't be hard to lavish a little extra attention on her... Make that a lot.

* * *

Sara arranged for Chuck to take care of Maria that day, to which Shadow had surprisingly agreed. She then arranged to meet Duo, the orange hedgehog, at the South Street entrance to the Regal Mall. She'd put in a couple brightly colored dragonfly hair clips, and was in a lavender V-neck shirt with her denim skirt. Her socks and sleeves were dizzyingly bright rainbows, and she'd even put on a little lipstick. She wondered why she didn't do that more often around Shadow.

She sniffed the air for signs that Duo was in the area, and after about twenty minutes she caught sight of him. He had spiky bangs and was wearing a denim vest, white armband, and black sneakers. His gloves were pretty basic, and his eyes, a burnt umber. He smiled brightly at Sara.

"Hey! Sara! Is that really you?!" he chuckled.

"Yeah! Duo... Oh wow…." She took another look at him. He was several inches taller than her, a new feature since the last time they'd met. Otherwise he seemed about the same. She did notice his belt, though; a gun was holstered at his side, that was a new accessory.

"Wow, you weren't kidding about the mate part." He took a sniff of her, Shadow's scent overpowering her natural fragrance. "You bathe in his scent glands or something?" he joked.

Sara laughed a little. "No, he's just affectionate."

"Could have fooled me." He shrugged. "Anyway, you said there's an arcade here, right?" Sara nodded. "Then what're we waiting for?"

"Right...but don't expect me to lose to the likes of you! I'm pretty good on heavy mode now!" she said in reference to DDR.

The two spent the first half of the day at the mall. They hit up every game store in the place, and Sara's extensive Odnetnin SD collection jumped about five games. Both she and Duo got copies of Animal Crossing: Wild World and Mario Party DS. He also treated her to a couple of manga at Borders books.

After hitting up Hot Pot, a new oriental restaurant at the mall, they stopped back at the apartment to drop off her things. She showed him around the place briefly and they were back out on their way to Twinkle Park.

Sara couldn't help laughing herself sick when Duo's bumper car rammed hers fiercely for the eighth time. "Let...me...move!" She just laughed as his car hit hers again. She tried to drive, but couldn't move an inch without bumping into him. "Whiplash...come on! Give me a break!"

He laughed similarly, "No! I know you're better than that, this is cutthroat bumper cars!"

Cotton candy, roller coasters, mini-games. Sara was pretty good at darts. Duo wasted far more money than necessary, getting a huge toy cheetah. "You didn't have to!" Sara blushed as he handed it to her.

"Give it to your girl, how about that?" He smiled warmly at her.

Twinkle Park really started to shine as evening came around and the lights went on. Sara and Duo sat on the ferris wheel with Fluffy (the stuffed cheetah) taking residence between them. "Ahh...! I haven't done this in forever." Sara smiled at the view of the carnival area. She loved the smell of the popcorn and hotdogs and candies...! And she could see the twinkling lights on every ride stretched out before them. It reminded her of gazing at the city lights with Shadow.

"What was that about grabbing treasure?" Duo asked even though he'd heard what she said perfectly.

"I said _I haven't done this in forever!_" She laughed.

"Ohhh... Yes, I love the weather too!" Duo beamed. He put an arm around Fluffy, knowing full well he would brush against her hand doing so. She quickly withdrew her hand. "Hey! Fluffy's going to fall if you don't!"

* * *

Loaded up with carnival trinkets and Fluffy, the two hedgehogs headed back to the hotel where Duo was staying. He kept bringing up the past, mentioning a few of the stunts he'd pulled and how he'd managed to rope Sara into going along with him. She laughed a bit at that.

Thinking back on things, he was pretty much the ringleader of their group. While Sonic was playing with the princess, Rotor, Antoine, and Tails...Sara was playing with Mina, Tiara, Ray, and Duo. Ray was always on the timid side, so he was never the decision maker, and Duo was always coming up with ideas that would get them all in trouble. But Duo had a very endearing side, probably why Chuck hadn't forbidden her from playing with him.

"So...had fun?" Duo smiled as he tried to get the key card from the hotel to unlock his door.

"Oh yeah...I should really get back to Shadow, though," she said, holding onto one of Fluffy's paws.

"Aww come on. He can wait a few minutes, can't he? I forgot I brought you something from Mobius." Duo smiled in triumph as the hotel door unlocked.

Sara sighed a bit. "Ahh, all right...just a minute then." She nodded and followed him inside. The hotel room was very plush, much more than a single guy needed. The bed had to have been a King size, and she was pretty sure plasma screen TVs weren't in the budget rooms. "Oh wow..." She set the plush aside. It was...really nice.

"Yeah. Nice, isn't it?" Duo smiled. "I stay in style."

"How are you affording this?" she queried.

"I'm part of the KTF, pays pretty well." He shrugged. "We have great dental too, see?" He gave her a broad, toothy grin while heading over to a large duffel bag.

"KT...ohh...Knothole Task Force?" She went over to the bed and tested its firmness. It was very springy and soft, softer than the bed she shared with Shadow by far. "Bet you get a good night's sleep on this, eh?"

"Yeah. I'm one of their sharp shooters." He indicated the gun at his side. Sara hadn't given it much thought 'til now. "Bed's a bit soft for my tastes, what do you think?" He rummaged through the bag, maybe longer than he needed to.

Sara hopped up on the human made bed and tested it out. She lay back on it and stretched out, laughing. "Ahh... Yeah, it sort of sucks you in. I think this is a little too soft even for me."

Duo took a moment to look her over on the bed. He wished the skirt she was wearing was just a speck shorter... "Ahh...found it." He stood and walked over to her with a small wooden box as she righted herself.

"Oh don't tell me that's a ring..." Sara made a face at that.

"No no, just, in case you lost the first one..." He opened it up, and a teal and purple friendship bracelet was inside.

Sara's ears went back. "Ahh thanks, but..." She held up her left arm and showed off the one Shadow had given her.

"Ohh... From your mate?" he asked softly. Sara nodded. He managed to smile a bit anyway. "It's just a piece of string."

"Thanks anyway, but I think I should be going now." She hopped off the bed but found one of his arms loosely penning her in.

"I missed you…." Duo said quietly in her ear.

She suddenly felt very uncomfortable around him. "Duo...I told you…I have a mate…."

"Yeah...I know..." His arm constricted around her waist, and he began stroking the small of her back. Normally her quills would have been standing on end, but he knew her well enough to avoid startling her. He remembered having to pull a few quills from his arm the night they almost became mates. "But we were almost..."

Sara's breathing became shallow and panic began to well up in her. One hand tried to dislodge his arm while the other pushed against his chest. "Almost is almost! I told you, I have a mate!"

"Right...Shadow..." he said calmly. "I think I could handle him."

Sara's eyes flew wide in alarm and she used both arms to push him away. "_He'll kill you!_"

Duo proved the stronger between them, putting both his arms around her and pulling her close. Her insistence he'd be killed didn't seem to phase him. "I know all about Shadow...probably more than you do... I have access to all the reports on him..." He noticed Sara's eyes welling up with tears and her cries getting more insistent. "You don't know the kind of things he's done... He's not good for you…." He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I promised _I'd _be your mate some day."

"No no! You can't! Nooo!" Sara sobbed. Fear gripped her as she felt his tongue on the back of her left ear. "...No..." She realized he hadn't been honest with her...why he'd come...and the gun... "Please no..."


	11. Unnerving News

Sara's cellphone rang for the hundredth time since she'd left the hotel. The caller ID clearly displayed Shadow's name. She didn't know what to say, if she could talk to him at all. She wiped some more tears from her eyes, walking half blind along the sidewalk. It was well after midnight, and street lamps illuminated their path.

She reached into her purse and picked up the cell phone. She took a deep breath and hit the Yes key. "Sara? Where the hell are you? You know how late it is? Maria's-" She canceled the call. Maybe that way it would look like a dropped call. She sighed and powered the phone off before the ring tone could come back to haunt her.

Shadow was up. Of course he was waiting for her; she was gone far longer than he'd expected and no doubt his fears were beginning to mount. Sara would have understood, she did understand...neither of them thought it would be well founded at all. He was just a friend, right?

As she approached their apartment, she wondered what she would do. So far, she'd been honest with Shadow...she didn't want secrets... If he was watching out the window, he would see her; if she opened the door, he would hear her. Worse yet, he would smell her. That was the part she was dreading most...all that affection...all the love he'd lavished on her...now marred by _his_ scent.

Her only hope was that Maria would draw his attention first. He knew where she lived, he knew about Shadow…. She shivered at the thought. She approached their apartment from a different street than she usually traveled, thus avoiding his gaze. She stayed outside the door, listening for Maria's inevitable cries. Hopefully he would go into her room and stay there.

"Misses Shadow?" one of the human residents of the building addressed her, causing her to jump. "Sorry to startle you...did you forget your key or something?"

"No...no I'm fine, thanks...Miss Hartzog." She sighed softly and waited for the human to leave her field of sight. Maria began her nightly crying routine soon after, and Sara began her act. Shadow wouldn't have to know anything was wrong, if she could just get to the bathroom...

Her hand shook as she fumbled with the lock but managed to get the door open after a moment. It squeaked...a lot louder than she thought it did. She stepped in, a floor board squeaked. Why hadn't she noticed that squeakiness earlier that day? Her eyes darted over to the baby's room. It was open... She could see red and black inside. She dropped her purse; it thumped on the floor.

"Sara??" He turned to the door, just catching her headed into the bathroom.

"Yeah! Sorry about that, I need to take a shower, okay?!" She slammed the door behind her and started running the water as hot as she could get it.

Shadow had already picked up the scent. It disgusted him already, but he wouldn't jump...not until he knew the whole story. "Ready for bed yet, Maria? Daddy has to have a little talk with your mom..." he said in a very calm tone. Maria yawned in reply, and he set her back to bed. He walked over to the bathroom door; she'd locked it... She never locked the door. The foreign scent was stronger than he thought it would be, and at last he spoke up…. "Why the hell didn't you answer my calls?!"

"S-sorry! The phone died...!" She bit her lower lip. She grabbed the nearest bottle of lavender shampoo and applied it in more than generous amounts to her fur.

Shadow picked up her purse and checked out the phone. It was off but...after turning it on, it still had a quarter of a charge. "Bullshit! Sara? What the hell happened?" He knocked on the door in a demanding way.

Sara felt her vocal cords tightening. "Shadow please...! Lemme..."

The bathroom door splintered to pieces and Shadow ripped the shower curtain down, causing Sara to scream. "I said..._**what the hell happened?!**_" Maria started wailing at all the commotion, but for now her cries went unheeded.

Sara's ears fell backward and flattened against her head. She immediately cupped her hands over the tops of them and started sobbing profusely. "...Shadow…."

He stepped into the bath with her, his eyes falling harshly upon her. The way she shook and leaned against him, she couldn't have betrayed him... "Move your hands..." She shook her head. "...Sara...don't make me force you…."

Her arms wrapped around Shadow tightly and she buried her face in his chest fur, which was now quite damp from the water. "I didn't...we didn't...but he…. Oh please _please_ don't fight!"

Shadow closed his eyes and scratched Sara behind her ears, which remained flat against her head. "It won't be much of a fight." He felt her grip him even more tightly. What had he done? He didn't care...the smell was there...even if it wasn't...he'd hurt his mate. Even without seeing him, he had the name and the scent to follow.

* * *

Shadow called off work the next day to start patrolling the city. He was out for blood, even though Sara insisted he hadn't gotten further than licking her. She'd managed to fend him off by kicking him in a particular soft spot and had proceeded to run for a while after that. At the moment, she just didn't feel very safe, and worried about Duo in spite of how things ended between them.

She picked her cell phone up by a My Little Pony strap she'd attached to it and dialed her father's new cell phone number. It rang a bit. "..Please pick up..." she said softly.

On the other end of the line, Chuck hedgehog and Chuck Thorndyke had just put the finishing touches on the Time Spear, which they hoped to send info back about the third echo. "Ahh, well done..." The wrinkly old human smiled toward his hedgehog counterpart. "Is that your phone?"

"I think it is," the hedgehog replied and went over to a bench he'd laid it on. "Hello?"

"Daddy?" Sara's voice came loud and clear through the phone.

"...Are you all right, Sara? You sound upset..."

"No... Can I…come over for a little while?"

"...Of course."

* * *

Sonic and Amy were at the Thorndykes' that day as well. They looked at each other and then Sara. Neither had seen her like this. Despite Shadow's best efforts the night before, Sara's ears seemed glued back in place.

"Yo, cuz..." Sonic began, but trailed off seeing her so gloomy.

"What happened to you? Did Shadow...?" Amy started.

"No no! It wasn't Shadow! ...Duo..." She rubbed her eyes; they were red from crying.

"He's alive??" Amy blinked.

"Yeah..." Chuck put in for Sara. "I didn't know he was in Station Square, but it seems like he's a bigger idiot than I thought."

Sonic frowned a bit. "What'd he...?"

"He didn't! But Shadow still wants to kill him...and he's part of the KTF! He's got a gun and everything...!" Sara managed to blurt out between sobs. "Sonic...could you stop them?"

Sonic blinked. "Huh? Sara...I have a hard enough time encountering Shadow without getting a fist or a foot in my face...and I dunno about Duo...you two were pretty serious before he, well, 'died.'"

Sara sniffled. "Please..." She handed Maria off to her father and went about wiping her eyes free of yet more tears.

Sonic sighed. He was a sucker for the ladies, wasn't he? "All right, but you need to tell me exactly what's going on. If I have to do any explaining..."

He found Sara's arms wrapped around his neck. "Thank you!"

* * *

On Shadow's end of things, there was a lot to clean up. He'd scared the crap out of Sara every bit as much as Duo had, and that made him unhappy, to put it mildly. After getting the soap out of Sara's fur, he spent the night reaffirming his scent on her and holding her while she explained things. She'd remained faithful to him, and he was glad she'd given him such a personal farewell.

Physical damage would be easier to repair, though; whether he killed the bastard or not, Duo needed to be sent a message. That was another cause of grief... Just mentioning it had sent Sara to tears again. In his mind, though, he'd as good as raped her, and he could in no way ignore or excuse that.

He told her to call if he tried to approach her, but he doubted she would. From what she had told him, he was the kind to take things into his own hands. He was impulsive, so he was somewhat like Sonic. It was really brazen trying to steal someone's mate, let alone _his_. One thing he'd quickly decided, though...he would be conducting his search from the rooftops... A sharp shooter...he would likely have a gun.

He thought about the fact he was the one who'd given Sara the bracelet she so coveted when he first met her. He was glad she didn't wear it. She thought he was dead. Ha... He was about to make that assumption reality. _Now where are you..._

* * *

Duo was prepared for a fight the moment he found out Sara had a mate. That mate being Shadow the hedgehog did make things a little bit more dangerous, but everything had its price tag. He didn't think he'd be able to take him in close combat, so his pistol was going to have to sit this one out. Out of his large duffle bag, he pulled his other partner out--an AK-47. His regular firearms were traded for a knife. If things did get close and personal, he wanted to have the better odds for survival.

He knew where the apartment was, but that hot spot might be too hot. He could hit Sara or the baby if they were around... He wanted a nice, clean shot. He didn't know if Sara had told him where the hotel was, but the fact he hadn't broken the door down was a good sign. He just had to wait. If he was too close to the apartment, Shadow would likely spot him first. If he was too far away, he might be out of the search perimeter he was sure to set up.

He knew he'd only have one, maybe two shots at most. He sighed slightly. He knew Sara still had feelings for him; she was starting to respond to him last night... He'd just have to work at it a bit after Shadow was gone. Just because he hadn't gone all the way with her didn't mean he wouldn't.

After a few hours of waiting, a black and red blur started heading toward his location._Gotcha..._


	12. Intense Moments

The Thorndyke manor was anything but peaceful that afternoon. One nervous, crying female hedgehog and two baby hedgehogs saw to that. Sonic had left mere minutes ago to hopefully prevent a catastrophe. Charles Thorndyke headed into the kitchen where Ella usually was, seeing the hedgehog Charles making a pot of tea in her stead.

"Hnnn...messy business," the human said in a serious and thoughtful tone. "Chris will be home from school shortly; he's already been warned about the situation... Ella's taking care of the children, and Amy's helping console Sara in the living room."

The hedgehog nodded appreciatively, "I'm sorry for all the trouble."

"...I called Sam too, but he said something about not being able to act unless an actual crime's been committed." He cleared his throat as he continued, "You mind if I claim human stupidity if I say I don't understand exactly what's going on here and beg an explanation out of you?"

"Ahh...I thought this was coming." Sara's father nodded. "Ask me anything you like."

"Well...I don't really know Shadow very well, and this 'Duo' character even less...I just...don't understand why he's gone out for blood when Sara swears he didn't rape her?" The elderly human took a seat at the kitchen sink.

Charles' ear twitched as he caught the words and mulled it over. "Ahh...that's not really the point... The point is Duo issued a direct challenge to Shadow's claim on my daughter." Chuck pulled up an extra cup. "You take sugar in your tea?"

"A spoonful please," he replied, followed up with a heavy sigh. "I think I understand...but perhaps I don't want to. You Mobians obviously differ from us physically, but mentally I've always thought of us as equals... so...forgive me if I find it a bit strange…to have to carry things to such an extreme."

A small humorless smile tugged the corners of the hedgehog's mouth. He finished pouring the tea, then offered some to Charles Thorndyke before seating himself. "Extreme? Yes...I suppose it is. I've thought about it before...many philosophers have…." He stirred his tea and looked into the dark amber liquid reflectively. "...There is an old saying on Mobius: 'She's not your mate if you aren't willing to die for her.'"

"Willingness is one thing, but Shadow could be running out to throw his life away... Seriously, a duel to the death? Does that really have place in modern society?" The man took a sip of his tea. "I'm sorry if I'm sounding critical here...but it just seems like an excuse for murder."

"No no...it's all right." He continued to gaze at his drink while he thought. "Does it have a place? You're implying that the impulse can and should be ignored?"

"I always felt that the ability to resist primal urges was the main thing which separates us from..." He cut off, looking at the hedgehog with whom he was carrying on a conversation…a person he'd come to trust and admire as a friend and colleague. While some humans had no problem seeing them as animals, others had a hard time seeing them as anything less than human, which was right now his problem.

"...Animals?" An ironic smile graced the old hedgehog's face. "To let you know a few things...duels over mates are rare. Even rarer is a case like this where the woman being fought over is perfectly satisfied with her _preferred_ mate." He paused a moment to make sure his friend was keeping up. "One factor you're not aware of here is a matter of scent... Our Jacobson's organ is far more developed than yours and most keenly attuned to our own kind. I'm fairly sure you humans don't even notice but...placing your scent on a girl is telling the world 'she is mine,' and Duo put his scent on Sara...thus accepting any consequences that go with it."

"So in a way, he's as good as raped her by trying to take her away from her preferred mate?" Chuck asked, folding his hands together and resting his head on his hands.

"...That's about the size of it." Chuck heaved a sigh. "I say preferred because she chose him." His tone had softened considerably. When the two Charles had met, it felt like the years had been lifted from their shoulders, but for the first time since they met, the human thought the hedgehog looked very old and gray. "Twice, actually... You don't know Duo, but he and Sara had strong feelings for each other once... I was honestly waiting for the day they would become mates until Eggman's attack two years ago. Sara's refusal of him means that whatever feelings she might have or once held for them are well below how she feels about my son-in-law."

"Ahh...that's another _flaw_ in the system I see. Doesn't it treat women like property? What if a 'preferred mate' is not the winner in this...fight?" He leaned back and took another sip of his tea, feeling the warmth of it seep through the cup into his hands.

Chuck's ear twitched lightly. "That can be a problem, I'm not saying it isn't. Mating is a very serious business for most Mobian species; as well, it's usually the woman who has to say yes. I will grant that there are arranged marriages and other matters which can determine who's with who but..." he indicated his quills, "these alone are a good deterrent for our kind. If she's unhappy with her mate, it's not always the guy's fault. She had to choose at some point."

Chuck Thorndyke nodded in understanding. "With that kind of system in place then...why would someone even _consider_ imposing on someone's mate?"

"Only two reasons that I know of," Chuck said very firmly. "Either he is suicidal...or he believes he can win the fight."

"I see...I trust you don't believe he's suicidal?" There was a nod in reply. "Is there any way to call this off?"

"Well... in rare cases, one of the males will back down. Since Duo issued the challenge...he is the one who has to...call it off…." He frowned a bit. "If I'd have known he was this stupid I never would have given him Sara's e-mail." A pang of guilt gnawed at the old hedgehog.

"Well, with Sonic out looking for the two of them, I'm pretty sure he'll find them in time..." The human smiled encouragingly. An empty smile was returned from his friend. "Nnn...let's go see how Sara's doing, eh?"

Charles nodded. "Yeah. I think I should tell her I was wrong about Shadow..." He went for another cup of tea, this one for his daughter. "...He really is good for her."

* * *

The AK-47 wasn't a sniper riffle; it was an assault riffle. Still, it was accurate and high powered...it was dependable, and it had seldom failed Duo in the past. As his target came into view, he grinned. Sara sure had a high profile hubby...and he was smugly thinking he was about to bring him down. The safety was off, the gun was loaded...and his finger poised on the trigger.

He was partly hidden behind a hotel's sign, and still on a higher building than Shadow. He hadn't seen him yet…. He observed long enough to judge his enemy's pace and general direction. Unless he saw him first, he seemed to be heading east and heading for higher and higher ground. _Perfect_... Maybe he could even shoot him in mid-jump from one building to another.

Confident he had his mark, he pulled the trigger...

"_**Chaos...**_" a loud voice issued from somewhere behind the orange hedgehog, "_**Control!"**_ The voice finished just as the finger depressed fully on the trigger. Shadow's attention had been drawn; somehow a hand had jerked the barrel of the gun as it fired. An outraged cry issued from the black and crimson hedgehog.

"What the hell?" Duo looked at his gun, Sonic's hand resting on it.

"Sorry, I'm the only one allowed to beat up Shadow today." He grinned, his emerald eyes glinting dangerously.

"...This is not your fight," Duo growled and rammed his elbow into Sonic's chest. In the moment of distraction he caused, he quickly looked back to where his target had been... A rather nasty looking blood smear was on the rooftop, but the target was out of sight. "You fool!"

Sonic coughed, "Sorry buddy, can't let you!" He made a grab for the gun again.

"...Why are you helping him?!" Duo attempted to knock Sonic out with the butt end of the gun, but he'd managed to duck under it. Panic was starting to build in the back of his mind. He'd hit his target sure...but he'd already gotten to his feet...he could be anywhere... "Come on! I am _not _dying today!"

"Well you sure seem to have a death wish going against cousin Shads'!" Duo surprised him with a jab to the gut... Since when had he become Knuckles? Well no, he wasn't quite there yet, even though it knocked the wind out of him, it wasn't even half the strength the red echidna could hit with. "Ha...that your best shot? If it is you better call this off now…."

Duo gave a feral growl of reply. "Why should I?" His anger mounted, and the orange hedgehog surveyed his surroundings once more. The wind was blowing and the sun was starting to cast longer and longer shadows. He backed up a few steps.

Sonic stood there confidently, ear tilted slightly to the side. "Heh. You won't find him. Besides, Sara's his now."

"...Not until I finish the job." Duo frowned. "_I_ was supposed to be her mate…." A hurt look crept into his eyes... "Two years...I was in south Kingdom and when I finally got back to Knothole…. All because of Eggman!"

"Yeah, so go point a gun at his head, why don't you?" He shrugged. "Look...Sara's really shaken up about all this...I mean...have you really thought about her in all of this?"

"Of course I have! I've thought of her every day we've been apart! I still have the bracelet she gave me!" He held up a wrist to show off a teal friendship bracelet. There was a loud creaking noise from the sign behind Sonic, but it was dismissed as being caused by the wind.

Sonic laughed, "Oh man, I didn't think you were so obsessed!" Duo attempted to search for Shadow but was increasingly distracted by the Blue Blur. "Look, Duo, you really need to give up. Sara doesn't want you to die, and I'm afraid I can't let Shadow die either, so use your head while you still can."

Duo growled a minute. He stared into Sonic's unflinching eyes. But he had shot Shadow...he just had to finish the job... "It's too late."

"Well, if you're going that path...when I leave…you lose." There was a disturbing gravity to Sonic's words. "If you really love her, don't ruin it..." Sonic's fists clenched together. "I know I'm not usually the serious one, but I mean it... I leave, you haven't backed down...you die."

"I lost, huh...? Now you're threatening me? It's not even your fight..." He held the riffle close. Where was the black bastard?

"I don't have to fight you. Sara already did." Duo's gaze immediately locked with Sonic. "If she really wanted you, we wouldn't be standing here talking; she'd be through the gate now with you, right? So even if you win against Shadow physically...he has something that doesn't belong to you any more. Her heart."

The AK-47 fell limply from Duo's hands. It clattered on the ground harmlessly. "I lost…." he laughed. "I can't believe it..." He rubbed his forehead. "Heh...I lost? What do you see so diff--" His eyes caught a pool of blood that was slowly building just behind Sonic's heels. A few droplets of blood fell to it. He moved his eyes upward along the steel structure holding the sign in place.

Silent as he could be, wounded and winded...Shadow had seen and heard the whole thing from the top of the Hotel O. How had Sonic perceived him there? How? "I think I see now…. He was watching...he was waiting for you to leave…."

"You're welcome." Sonic kicked the gun away in case he had any bright ideas.

"Bastard...we were supposed...to fight..." Shadow coughed.

"Yeah, you're welcome too, Shadow." He looked up to catch a brief smile on the black hedgehog's face... It was only then Sonic also got to see where he'd been shot. The wound in his side was still dripping blood, and somehow his black fur seemed to pale. Sonic's emerald eyes went wide with alarm as the black blur slipped into unconsciousness.


	13. Relieved Moments

Amy's cell phone started to ring, and all eyes in the room turned to her. Sara had just started to relax, and she was again bolt upright and tense. What a day this was turning out to be. "It's Sonic..." Amy said quietly.

Mr. Tanaka coughed lightly. "I think Master Chris is here... If you need me just call." The butler bowed and left the room.

Amy put the cell on speaker setting. "Sonic, you there?"

"Hey, Amy, uh..." Sonic's voice carried into the room.

"Did you find Shadow? And Duo? Are they okay?!" Sara sat on the couch with her hands digging into the pillows.

"Sara? Ohh…yeah, I found 'em." Even at a distance he could imagine her perched on the edge of her seat, staring at the phone like it was going to explode. "Umm...I'm at the MRT building with Shadow...uh... Sara? He's not regged."

"Say what?!" Sara's alarm grew worse; she felt ill.

"I had to fight with them over treating him; if he doesn't agree to the test program like you did, heh...I'd hate to see the bill." Sonic whistled.

"W-what happened?" Sara's voice was a raspy whisper.

"Umm...I'll explain when you get here...oh... and could you bring Maria with you?" he continued.

"...Why?" Sara's voice shook, but it was a little louder.

"Well...he'll be needing a lil' extra tomato juice to get him back to go... No worries, uh...could you guys hurry, though?" Sonic tried to be lighthearted about it, though he fully expected Amy to loan Sara her piko hammer to beat him with once they saw the extent of the injuries. "I can't use my cell in the MRC so...text me, 'kay?" And with that the convo ended.

"Hey, guys!" Chris huffed, rushing into the living room where the gathering was. "Ahh...I..."

"We need to go to the MRC... Ella?! Ella? I need Maria back!" Sara said, bounding off the couch.

"Uhh..." Chris watched Sara scramble to gather her baby, only to trip over the rug. "Hey watch i--ow!" Chris pulled back his hand from trying to help her. A couple of quills stuck out of his palm. "Hey...it's all right...Shadow's going to be fine…." Sara sobbed a bit. Her quills were all flared out and trembling. He just wanted to help...

"It looks like your uncle has arrived, Master Chris," Tanaka said, looking out the window.

"Yeah...!" The boy brightened. "He can get us to the MRC in no time." Chris smiled.

"Oi! Midnight Rush is here!" Sam grinned as he stepped into the manor. He walked over to the Mobians and knelt by the trembling sky blue ball of quills. He ran a gloved hand along her quills comfortingly. "A blue hedgehog told me you needed a ride, little miss?"

Sara stopped shaking and nodded to the redhead. "...Thanks..."

"Ahh no problem!" He gave her one of his winning smiles, setting her more at ease. Chris wished he could do that, be that charming, calm down a crying friend, as he plucked one of the quills from his palm. "Just get Shadow to race me sometime when he's better." He winked.

------------------

Time seemed to have done a very bizarre warp from the time they'd entered Sam's car, excuse me, Midnight Rush's car, to the time they arrived at the MRC. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, and the whole situation had finally settled into Sara's brain so that the initial shock had worn off and replaced it with a sort of calm. Despite Midnight's best efforts to crack jokes, and the others pretending it was funny, Sara failed to smile.

At the MRC, Amy did most of the talking, prying every detail out of Sonic as to what happened. The immediate need for a blood donor for Shadow squelched most of the chit chat until Sara handed Maria over with some reluctance. Without the baby that bound her to her mate, or her love in sight, Sara seemed naked, exposed... Amy began putting a positive spin on things as she could, but it didn't seem to help.

Sonic eventually spat out that Shadow had a punctured lung and that there was some internal bleeding as well...yeah...he was a mess. Sara wasn't crying; she'd used up all her tears already...but the sorrow was clearly plastered on her face. Sonic really hated being the bearer of bad news.

Eventually one of the nurses came back with Maria, who was sleeping soundly. The transfusion had gone well, and Shadow was responding to the treatment, though he was still far from out of danger. At least having Maria back brightened Sara's disposition a bit. She didn't have any shame to lose, so she began nursing her when she woke up hungry about an hour later. Nobody said anything.

The hours passed at a painfully slow rate. Amy and Sonic managed to catch a few winks, but whenever they'd wake up, they'd check on Sara. She was awake, you could say, but her eyes were half lidded and the shine in them seemed to have gone out. Both of them were trying to encourage her but her deep depression somehow stilled their tongues.

As the wee hours of dawn were creeping in, an MRT rep came into the waiting room. "Mrs. Shadow?" she said gently. Sara had only recently fallen asleep.

"Nnn?" Her heart began to beat more rapidly in anticipation of the news.

"Shadow's condition is stable and his eyes have opened... You can visit, but..." she paused, "I'm afraid you'll have to make it brief."

Sara nodded. "That's okay." She stood and kicked Sonic in the ankle.

"Ow! What was that fo-" He found Maria thrust into his arms and watched Sara leave with the nurse. "Heh... You know you're screwed, right? Your dad's a pompous, arrogant bastard and your mom's a pushy bi--OW!" Sonic caught a swat from Amy next to him. Maria began giggling.

--------------------

The room Shadow was in was quiet, save for the steady beeping and whirring of machinery, mostly monitoring his vitals. He wasn't a very good patient, and as soon as his eyes were open he was trying to fight off the MRT staff. It wasn't until they told him Sara would see him shortly that he calmed down--without being sedated.

Sara took a seat next to him, some spark returning to her eyes. "Hi, Shadow...honey." It came out a bit softer than she'd intended. She gently reached for his hand, his fingers curling around hers.

His eyes moved to her hands and then up her arms, eventually making contact with her deep brown eyes. He smiled a bit. "Hey…." He coughed a little even at that. It was hard to breathe and his chest felt like it was on fire. He attempted to keep the smile a little longer, if only to calm his mate down. He could feel her shaking slightly.

"You stupid jerk...you messed up my pillow..." She wiped away a tear and reached for the white tuft of fur that adorned his chest, at least what was left of it. Some of his chest fur was shaved off for the surgery to repair some of the damage to his left lung; he was also pretty well bandaged up across his chest.

"So...that was your ex-boyfriend, huh?" Shadow coughed a bit and saw Sara's expression sink. "He's a good shot."

Sara gulped before she spoke up with some strain in her voice. "I'm so sorry…."

Shadow brushed away the tears that were already forming in her eyes. "Don't be." He leaned back against the hospital pillows. Even that small amount of movement hurt, but considering he was still alive to feel anything at all was a relief. "Your pillow will grow back soon enough."

Did he just make a joke? "Shadow..." Sara smiled a bit even though she was crying, "I'm so glad I didn't lose you...and that I didn't tell you about Duo sooner…."

Shadow shrugged, and winced; that hurt too. "Did you have to get Sonic to ruin our duel?"

"...Baka..." Sara sighed.

"You told me you'd never really had anyone interested in you, though..." Shadow said after a stretch of silence.

"Yeah...well...other than Duo." Sara paused. "We were very good friends growing up...I considered him my buddy more than anything…. But sometimes he would tell me I was pretty or something...and I actually believed it."

Shadow's ears tilted more in her direction. "You are beautiful."

She smiled at that. "Yeah, I just...didn't believe it if anyone else said it...like it was all fake and they wanted something from me."

"So I'm a liar?" He gave a small growl, which turned to a cough.

"No! Not at all." Sara placed him with a slightly wounded look. "No...actually...that's part of why I..." she gently stroked her fingers through his quills, "why I chose you." She saw his eyes gaze up at her; the light in them had shifted.

Shadow smiled a bit. "You know, though...if I ever see that bastard..." he coughed again and took a minute to recover this time, "...I'm still going to beat the shit out of him."

"I love you too." Sara smiled and gently leaned in until their lips met.

---------------------

Shadow was kept at the MRC a couple days after before he was allowed home. The whole incident had even been on TV. Apparently someone with a cell phone took video footage of Shadow getting shot. It was all over YouTube the next day, and Duo was being referred to as "The guy who shot Shadow!" It was a good thing Shadow didn't watch much news. There was a big debate over Mobian behavior and the "sanctified murder" of someone's mate was lawful or acceptable. Shadow had refused to be interviewed and forbade Sara from it.

Sara assumed the next thing would be Montel hosting a couple of hostile Mobians under the header "He tried to steal my mate and now she don't love me anymore!" While not as high profile as Sonic, Sara was finding the mailbox flooded with everything from sympathy cards to hate mail.

Although Shadow was a fast healer, he wasn't nearly as fast as he would have liked in that regard. Though his sky blue mate with brown bangs certainly didn't shy away from affection, his condition made things difficult. Though she was supposed to be returning to work the week he got out of the hospital; she had to inform them she would have to take an extended leave of absence to care for Shadow. She was grateful for the FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act), but at the same time she felt like she was dumping on her co-workers.

Understandably, Shadow was a bit on the grouchy side...more than usual. He was in pain, had a half-shaved chest, and still had a crying baby waking him up every two hours. Sara did her best to placate them both, but the strain was starting to show on her.

Toward the end of May, Amy paid Sara a visit with Blitz in tow. It was warm enough to leave the windows open now and they'd soon be complaining about the heat in a short amount of time. Shadow was asleep in the bedroom, so the girls had the rest of the apartment to themselves and the children. Blitz and Maria were both little scooters now, and had even begun clinging to furniture in an attempt to stand.

"Coffee?" Sara asked.

"No thanks. You shouldn't be drinking that stuff either if you're nursing her," Amy replied. She'd taken a seat on the couch and watched the little hooligans.

"It's decaf. I just drink it out of habit... Tea instead? Or maybe some milk?"

Amy laughed, "That's all Blitz ever wants." She laughed again when he turned his head to her in rapt attention. "He said Mama the other day." She beamed.

Sara smiled warmly. "It was so sweet, you should've seen it, but last night Shadow was holding Maria and she said 'Dada.'"

Amy laughed again. "I never thought he'd be the cuddly-huggy type."

"He's not." Sara returned to the living room with two cups of lemonade instead. "He tries, though." She smiled and handed the glass over to Amy.

She shook her head lightly. "I don't know...I know...I know I was his defense lawyer for even talking to you...so maybe I should get some blame for you guys getting together, it's just...I mean…." She looked out the window at the bright, cloudless sky outside. "I can't believe he's actually happy."

Sonic's kind of grin crept onto Sara's face and stayed there. "Generally, yeah he is. Don't let the 'ultimate life form' stuff fool you...he's normal in every way that counts."

"Normal?" Amy leaned over to redirect Blitz from crashing into the couch.

"Yes. Normal. He has normal feelings...love, hate, sadness, envy, greed, lust..." She smiled a bit broader at the last one.

Amy burst out laughing at that, then glanced over at the bedroom door and tried to mute it. "I am so sorry..." She said with her cheeks pink, and trying to hide her laughter. "I just can't see him...that way."

Sara's turn to divert the twin terrors as she kept Maria from butting heads with Blitz. "They never look where they're going…." she sighed. "Shadow has been kind of tense lately, though...I'd like to get him to relax."

"Ahh, so you aren't immune to that sourpuss aura of his after all!" Amy said as a kind of "AHA!"

"Usually I ignore it...unless he's really depressed. He isn't, but..." Sara looked down to find Maria clinging to her leg. She stroked the top of her head gently. "Good baby."

"Ooohhh...out with it already! I get enough 'hidden feelings' and half-said messages from Sonic. What are you thinking?" the pink one inquired.

"I want to throw him a party, I think..." she said thoughtfully as she picked Maria up.

"Mama!" The baby giggled. "Mooo mooo?" she asked and patted at her mother's chest. That slightly surprised Sara, but the request was, of course, granted.

"A party?" Amy blinked. "He doesn't exactly strike me as the partying type…."

Sara nodded. "I know…. Hmm...it can't be a get well party and he's not going anywhere..." She paused, ear twitching as she thought about it. "Aha! I know...a birthday party!"

"B-birthday?!" Amy almost fell out of her seat at that. "Do you even know _when_ his birthday is? For that matter...how old _is_ Shadow?" she squeaked.

"No...no I don't know his birthday. Now keep it down...I don't want him to hear." She stroked Maria's head lightly. Her fur was really growing in well, and she was getting a puffy version of her mom's bangs. "As for his age, that would have to depend on if you take his age to be literally, physically, or figuratively." Amy's face scrunched up at that. "I mean...literally he was created over fifty years ago but physically he's a teenager...and then figuratively speaking, he-"

"Okay, okay, I get it." Amy shook her head. "So we'll call him eighteen. Same age as Duo?" She saw the look Sara shot her and quickly looked away, "Sorry…."

"Ahh...It's okay...eighteen then." She blushed a bit, then smiled wryly. "We'll make it a surprise birthday party...so I'm going to need your help big time...!"


	14. Making Moments

"A party...for Shadow? Are you nuts?!" Sonic blinked at his mate.

"It's Sara's idea..." Amy said, giving him a slight pout. "You have to invite all our friends...!"

Sonic sighed and shook his head again, Blitz mirroring his actions. "Amy Amy Amy! This is Shadow we're talking about…."

"I know...I mean... but she wants to give him one." She twiddled her fingers lightly, trying to look cute.

"You do remember Sara's birthday, right?" Sonic gave her a dubious look. Between Sara and Shadow it had been good; Shadow treated her to a nice meal and a ring she really wanted. There were no streamers, no ribbons, no cake or ice cream, and as long as it was just them it was fine. Amy had wanted to take her a cake, though... Sonic rubbed his temples.

"Eh heh...I know that didn't really go over well, but...this is for Sara, okay?" Amy scratched behind her ear nervously, a habit she'd picked up from Sonic. "And...we'll probably need to use the Thorndykes' place for the party, so you need to talk to Chris."

Sonic gave a resigned sigh. "So what do we get the black bum?"

"That's the spirit!" Amy smiled.

Sonic's ear twitched while he thought. "Lemme see...something he'll like…. Well...hmm... Hoo boy this is going to be tough. Can we just get him a gift card to Wal-Mart?"

"Sonic, that's highly impersonal! I'm sure you can think of something." She sat down on the floor and called Blitz over to her. He was getting better at controlling where he crawled to.

Sonic turned his gaze to Amy and sat down a few feet from her. "C'mon, Blitz! Papa wants you!" He opened his arms welcoming, and the babe scuttled out of Amy's lap toward Sonic's.

"Maybe new gloves?" Amy offered.

"Yeah, I imagine he'll get twenty pair..." Sonic wrinkled his nose.

"Paaa paaa!" Blitz tumbled into Sonic's lap and was rewarded with a barrage of tickles.

"So Shoes and socks are probably a no-no too?" Sonic raised a brow.

"Absolutely not! That's far too common." She beckoned the child back to her once Sonic was done tickling.

"Well you're easy to shop for...I just buy you a dress or something that you never wear." He rolled his eyes, ignoring the bitter glare from Amy. "Hey, Blitz! come back! Mama's pissed at me!" He grinned.

"I hate you!" Amy grabbed a pillow off the sofa next to her and threw it at him.

A thought crossed Sonic's mind while giving his mate a once over. "Hey, Amy...I think I know what I'm gonna get Shadow..." Amy gave him a dubious look. "Something Shadow will _really enjoy_! I think I'll get one too..." He grinned.

Blitz started back toward his papa, but instead of crawling, he struggled a bit to get to his feet. Both Amy and Sonic watched in full attention. He'd stood against tables and chairs, sure, but they hadn't seen him support his own weight yet. With a squeal, followed by some crying, he fell back down on the floor.

"Aawww... It's okay, Baby." Amy scooped the baby into her arms and cradled him in spite of his squirming. "Now what is it you think would go over sooo well that you're smiling that wide, Sonic?"

"Aww, put him down, he wants to try again!" Sonic beamed at their son. "What is it? Well..."

* * *

A few nights later, Shadow lay awake as he often did. He eyed the woman he loved, lightly brushing her rich brown bangs from hiding her face. The tightness in his chest forced him to lie back down, though, and he looked at her in a longing way. It was as though he wished for her eyes to flutter open and look at him adoringly. He leaned in and nuzzled her hair, taking in her scent. He enjoyed her touch, her warmth, her smile. He felt quite content to smile with no small amount of pride at the woman he'd taken for his own. His only regret now was how weak he felt.

Shadow's ears adjusted to the sound of Maria crying in the rainbow room. He sighed softly, looking back at his lover. She usually awoke quickly when the baby cried, but she'd been running herself ragged trying to take care of her and Shadow. Of course, she'd blamed herself for his getting shot, for not avoiding the situation, so she may have been trying harder than she needed to. If she had any frustration with Shadow at all, it was likely the times when he neither encouraged nor discouraged, as he'd remained quiet through one of her self-blame sessions. Still, for some reason, he felt he should see what Maria wanted before she woke up.

Getting out of bed wasn't too bad, though shifting from being a stationary object to one in motion caused him some pain. It was now down to a more manageable level as he slipped out of the bedroom and into Maria's. "Quiet. Your mother's sleeping," he said softly, but in a demanding way.

Maria seemed to hush up immediately and simply peered at her "dada" with wide crimson eyes. "Dada..." She held her arms out and shadow obliged her, picking the child up and masking his discomfort the whole time. One of her tiny hands grabbed at the chunk of white fur still clinging to his chest.

"Why do you do that?" he grunted. "Of all the things you could latch onto, it's all about the chest fur, huh?" Maria started giggling a bit and snuggled up to her father's chest. He involuntarily winced at that, but made no sound. He lightly stroked her head, admiring the deep blue quills that were growing in. She began fussing again. "What's your problem?"

He hadn't expected an answer, but he found his crimson eyes locked with hers. There was an intensity to the gaze that didn't belong to a child.

"He's dreaming." As soon as the words flew from her lips, the intense gaze was broken and the world was as it should be.

Shadow wasn't sure he actually heard that. A calculating look that hadn't been present the last few months found its way back into his eyes. She wasn't more than five months old and had just started saying "mama," "dada," and other small words. She'd never said two words together or with such clarity. "What did you say?"

Maria said nothing and seemed blissfully unaware anything at all strange had just happened. She tugged at the white tuft again, giggling. "Dada!"

Making sure there was nothing else the baby needed other than company, he put her back in her crib. _He's dreaming. Who's dreaming?_ Shadow tried to shrug it off as he reentered his bedroom. Sara was still asleep. Good. She needed some rest.

* * *

Sara set the date for the party about three weeks after, landing in the middle of June. As the day approached and many cell phone calls were made, Sara noticed her guy slipping further into depression. It couldn't have been because of his condition; he was recuperating quickly according to both Dr. Garrett and Dr. Quack. Work was even going to allow him back on light duty soon (paperwork mostly).

As usual, he was being purely masculine and not telling her anything. He wasn't very open by nature, and on the rare occasions Sara caught something wrong with him, he was hesitant at best to just speak his mind. She supposed part of that was to protect her, knowing his past had been a hard one, but they were together...couldn't he open up a bit more?

Either way, the hardest part of her job was about to begin as the day arrived. Shadow made a slight grunting noise when he woke up, but that was the only sound resembling speech she'd heard all morning. Breakfast was eaten in complete silence. Somehow, Sara couldn't bring herself to say anything; the words just clung to the back of her throat. Eventually she turned on the radio just to have something to break the silence...even Maria hadn't fussed.

_"Station Square is experiencing a really strange phenomenon today. Despite our earlier reports of sunshine and swimming pool temperatures, can you believe it's snowing outside? That's right, folks! Harvey Bicksford, age 82, said he remembers the last ti--_"

Sara jerked her head to the window, and sure enough, tiny specks of white were gently falling through the air. "Wow..."

_"But the last time it snowed here, it was the middle of January! S'truth..."_

_"Thanks, Mr. Bicksford. As of yet, there is no explanation for the sudden change in weather, but it is not a local phenomenon. Just--"_

Sara turned back to Shadow, seeing his eyes heavyset toward the breakfast plate in front of him. She'd had enough of watching him mope, and besides, they needed to go to the party. "Hon?" She actually set a hand on his shoulder; times like these he seemed to only notice when contact was made between them. Though dull and uninterested, his eyes did look to her; it made her uneasy. "Ummm...we were invited over to the Thorndykes'…."

"I'm not going," he mumbled.

"But I already said we'd be there..." Sara pleaded. He sighed. "Please?"

"If you want to go, then go." He shrugged and lay his arms and head on the table, obviously sulking.

"I want to go...with you." She slipped her arms around him, still being very gentle with him. "Pretty please with sugar on top?"

"You're not Amy, don't even try to beg," Shadow's voice returned.

Sara fought the instinct to frown at that and then grinned. "You'll see how much I'm like Amy if you keep sulking...I'm not going to stop until you come with me!" His eyes darted to her in a menacing way, as if to say 'Don't you even dare.'

------------------------------

At the Thorndyke manor, final touches were being made for the party. Cream had woven little paper chain links that Ella helped her put up. Chris was busy greeting the guests as they arrived. Tails had already come by, as well as Rouge the bat. Big and Froggy couldn't make it, but the Chaotix had managed to show. Charmy and Cream really liked hanging out and were both balls of energy, while Vector offered help with the music. Espio mentioned being dragged to the occasion by Vec and didn't care one way or another about things. Invitations had even stretched through the World Gate, though only Mina and Tiara answered the call…well, Knuckles too, but that was Sonic's doing.

"Tell me again why I agreed to this?" Knuckles arched a brow, his mitts folded across his chest. His purple eyes were completely unamused.

"We needed another emo to make Shadow look happy," Sonic chirped with a broad grin.

"...Why am I here?" he asked again.

"Because you have no social life and need to get away from that floating chunk of rock once in a while," he retorted.

"I do too…." Knuckles said, though in no way excited or convincing in his statement.

"Uh huh... Social recluse in a city of separationalistic echidnas... Oh yeah, there was that one girl…Julie-something?" Sonic inquired.

"-Su. Julie-su." Knuckles put his palm to his face. He kind of wished she'd come with him, but she had other plans. The hapless bachelor was forced into coming to a party he didn't want to be at. Then again, the same could be said for at least half the guests. "Again...why am I here? I'm sorry, but Shadow doesn't strike me as a party animal..."

"It's all my cousin's doin' really. But as for why you're here..." Sonic smirked, "I need you here, buddy. I'm going to go crazy if all I have is Vector to listen to..."

"Okay then, tell Sara the Master Emerald's been stolen again so I have to go..." The monotreme tried to get away, but Sonic held his elbow.

"Sorry! Gotta make sure the party stays lively or else Amy's going to bitch at me...so actually you're kind of anti-bitch protection." Sonic gave a cheesy smile.

Knuckles sighed. "I'm not getting out of this, am I?"

"Nope." Sonic had a rather cat-like grin at his resignation to his fate. "And if you try anything I'm going to tell Julie-su about you and the bat girl." He indicated over to where Rouge was sitting, conversing cooly with High Octane (Sam's name of the day).

Knuckles' cheeks turned as red as the rest of his body. "Y-you wouldn't!" Sonic laughed.


	15. More Awkward Moments

Shadow had acted as though he were being led to a funeral. They didn't have to walk far either, hailing a cab to get them to the manor since he wasn't able to run yet. It was another long, silent stretch of time between them. Sara couldn't help but feel the misery radiating off of him, and it was driving her nuts that nothing she could do seemed to fix things.

At last she couldn't take it, and a solitary tear ran down her cheek. That seemed to draw his attention. "...Sara?" Her ears perked up instantly, and she looked over at him eagerly. He was rather taken aback at the sudden mood shift. "...Are you okay?"

"Yeah…. You?" Her brown eyes filled with concern, it seemed to temporarily pierce the veil of indifference set in Shadow's eyes.

"Nnn..." He looked down to his lap, then put his hand on hers in a reassuring way. "I'll be okay."

"Is it something I can help with? Have I done anything you're mad about?" She took hold of his hand and squeezed lightly.

"Sara...you don't have to worry about _my_ problems." He draped his free arm around her and rested himself against her

"...But I want to." She didn't lean back against him for fear of reinjuring him. "We're together now so...it's important to share...fears as well as hopes. You really worry me sometimes…."

Shadow kissed her ear that he was leaned into. "I promise...I'll be fine."

* * *

Shadow about had a heart attack when everyone jumped out and yelled "Surprise!" He may as well have. Everything about him went stiff and undoubtedly the sudden jolt to a bolt upright position had caused him some deal of pain. His mouth hung open for a moment, at a complete loss as of what to do next. _A Party?_ His eyes were as wide as a deer caught in headlights, completely unmoving for the longest few moments of his life.

"Happy birthday!" Sonic said in his most cheerful tone.

"B-birthday?" the darkened hedgehog said in complete and utter shock.

"Yeah! It was Sara's idea, since she didn't know what day you were born." Sonic grinned. "June 14th good enough for you?" Something about the lifeless expression that hit Shadow's face completely wiped the smirk off of Sonic's.

_How can they even think of celebrating?_ He felt truly alien standing in the Thorndykes' home, surrounded by almost everyone he knew, maybe even a bit angry. _Why are they here? What the hell is there to celebrate?_

"Shadow?" Sara said in a very timid voice. His ear went back in her direction, though he made no other movement.

"Oi! Shadow! Intimidated by our celebrating spirit?" High Octane grinned. No effect..._shit._

If Shadow could have run, he would have. His heart threatened to burst in his chest, which ached with more than physical pain. But he couldn't break down, not in front of _them..._all of them... All of their eyes were on him, some smiling, some indifferent. Rouge gave him a sultry smile, Sam—Octane was also smiling as wide as he could. Chris' face had turned to confusion, and several of the guests then looked to each other as the dark hedgehog looked around him. Only Espio hadn't made eye contact with him, perhaps grasping the situation better than the rest. It was only the look that Sara was giving him that gave him any inkling to stay. He took a deep breath, though that was a lost cause, and exhaled deeply. "...A party? You guys are lousy fakers..." he finally said. "Heh, who would want to throw a party for me anyhow?"

The atmosphere relaxed notably, and Sara's expression softened a bit. Her hands slipped around Shadow from behind and she nuzzled his cheek lightly.

"Thank you..." She heard him sigh a bit. "Please...try to be happy..."

Maria's words were echoed in her voice. _Maria…._ His Maria. The one who died on the Ark.

"You want to know why I'm..." He paused and took a look at the room full of people. Vector had wasted no time making a fool of himself and started up the music while Rouge was engaging poor Knuckles in a conversation. "...You chose a lousy day for a party." He sighed and just left it at that. At least the warm embrace she'd given him gave some comfort.

"Tell me about it when you're ready..." She nuzzled him again.

After her warm embrace left Shadow, it was "Grandpa" Chuck who approached him. The light blue hedgehog smiled at him in a welcoming way. "I haven't really had a chance to talk to you, Shadow..."

"Yeah, kicking someone out of their home does that," Shadow replied. He felt a bit like he was on autopilot, but if he wasn't he probably would have spent the rest of his time there glued to the floor like a statue.

One thing that a birthday afforded you was the ability to not get yelled at for inappropriate retorts. "I was wrong about you... You make a good match for my daughter, and I can see how much she loves you. I just thought you should know that."

Of all the gifts he could have received, that probably was the most important of them. "Thanks."

* * *

Somehow Sara managed to nudge Shadow into the expected dialogues with old friends and acquaintances. Knuckles managed to put his foot in his mouth by asking if his daughter was named after the girl who died on the Ark. Yeah, that went over well. Rouge did the honors for Shadow by kicking him in the side of the head. Espio was kind enough to forego pleasantries and offer him a ninja-worthy escape if the party got to be too much for him; it was appreciated.

Eventually it was time to open gifts. Vector had brought a CD of Mina Mongoose's latest album. Mina, one of the few Knothole gang to be there, blushed at that. Mina had bought him a T-shirt that said "I shop at Hot Topic!" on one side and "Emos need luv 2" on the other. Charmy offered up a jar of honey with a small cook book attached...not that Shadow ever did the cooking, but he said Sara had mentioned it as an ingredient for some yummy pancakes.

Cream could only offer a flower necklace that she'd made from the garden, but it was somewhat appreciated by Shadow...in a very limited way. The smell of it was too strong, and soon Sara had broken it down into two bracelets instead. Rouge had gotten him a ring inlaid with three stones, amethyst, emerald, and sapphire. Her explanation was it represented each of their birthstones...Sara's was Sapphire for September, June was Emerald, and February was Amethyst. Well, she was a jewel expert after all. For those who didn't know what to get him, the expected gloves and shoes came.

The most personal gift Shadow received was a scrap book Sara had been compiling. It had pictures of them and Maria that he didn't even know existed. She'd cut out little shapes and pasted strips of fabric around the edges of the pictures; it really must have taken a long time. He wondered how he'd missed seeing it come together. Her favorite picture of Maria, though, was an ultrasound, it was the first visual proof they had that a life was blooming within her swelling features. A sentimental smile crossed Shadow's face briefly, even though he had sworn he wouldn't smile today from the moment he'd woken up.

After the miscellaneous gifts and gift cards were out of the way, the more heavily anticipated gifts were shown off. Not everyone had come with a gift, though... Uncle Chuck, Grandpa, rather, was one of the individuals who had nothing to offer. His acceptance of Shadow had been more than enough.

"Sorry I couldn't wrap my gift..." Tails said, pulling out a shining black and red bike from behind the sofa.

He looked it over and noticed it wasn't a normal bike... "Thanks."

"It's an Extreme Gear bike!" Tails beamed. "I made it myself...it's all customized just for you! I figure, now that you can get out a bit, you might want to have a way of getting around...you know, that's fast?"

Shadow nodded. That would be practical...and also fun, not that he'd admit it. And he wouldn't need a taxi home; that was even better.

"Huh...I can't believe you guys did this for me." He managed to keep any wonder or amazement out of his tone, though he was having a harder time staying unhappy than he thought he would.

"Last but not least, my gift!" Sonic pulled out a box wrapped in red.

Shadow was instinctually glaring, already wary of the big smile on Sonic's face. He looked left, then right before opening it, not quite wanting to be watched. Finally the lid was pulled away and his jaw dropped momentarily.

"What the hell?!" he said as loud as he could before coughing. A number of "What?"s and "What is it?"s were asked in unison. Shadow hid his face with one hand, the other trying to hide the damn thing.

"Hmm?" Sara took a peek in the box and turned bright red.

"I know, I know, it's more for Sara, but you'll be able to enjoy it I'm sure." Sonic grinned.

"H-how could you!?" Sara was the one more aghast than Shadow. She was completely mortified with embarrassment at the gift.

"Amy helped me pick it out," the blue blur said with a great amount of pride.

"It was _all_ his idea, Shadow! Remember, I got you those really cool shoes and the gift card instead... Heh heh..." Amy replied, giving her partner a good thwack upside the head.

Sara blushed profusely and shut the lid back on the box. "What was it?" Chris asked plainly; he hadn't seen it, as most of the guests hadn't.

"A sexy nightie..." Sonic smirked.

Ella's "Oh my!" summed it up for everyone. Vector had the audacity to ask to see it...for which Espio gladly beat the shit out of him.

When all the excitement had died down and cake had been served, Shadow led Sara off to a secluded room. "I'm sorry I've been so down lately..." he started. He still got out of breath easily. "I...well...if you do it again, just not this day."

"...Why? What is it?" Sara asked in a gentle voice as she took a seat next to him.

"Well..." Shadow had brought the scrapbook with him and had it tucked under one arm. He lay it on his lap and looked at the set of pictures. "This isn't my birthday...it's my death day."

The way he said that made Sara's quills raise. He was speaking very softly too, so she had to strain to hear him. "Death...day?"

Shadow nodded, "The day GUN came on the Ark...the day Maria died..." He idly played with a stray piece of paper peeking out from the book.

"Oh Shadow...I...I had no idea..." Sara looked more embarrassed at that than the nightie Sonic had provided _them_ with.

"I know..." He sighed a bit. "The more I thought about Maria's death, the worse I felt...I don't see it as much as I used to, but...you know...it's kind of a hard day to forget…."

"I'm sorry..."

Shadow shook his head. "I didn't want to be here...you know. But..." He looked at the book and then back at Sara. Maybe it was because he was wounded still, but his eyes looked more reflective than usual, or maybe it was just the day. "Maria wanted me to be happy...I promised myself I'd try to, for her sake, move on…. It's been hard for me."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Sara leaned up against him a bit.

"Pride," he replied simply. "I guess I feel I should be able to handle anything alone...I keep forgetting I'm not anymore... Thanks."


	16. Revealing News

Author Notes: Make that "Now with 90 more plot." LoL (Read story description, XD) Anyhow... I gave a different origin to the villain entering the scene. There's a lot of little details in this story I just can't crunch into the regular chapters. Like the Shrews who fought over a mate; there's a story behind that. Not too important but, just that I know why it happened and all. Likewise here, there's little things I would have liked to add, but for the sake of moving things along and not living in expose, I've tried to keep things short and concise.

* * *

The Egg Fort 3 flew lazily over the Hidden Congo. Dawn had arrived, a light golden haze just starting to strip the thick fog from the lush, vibrant lands. Eggman was still half asleep in his night robe and cap, and sucking down some black coffee.

"Decoe! Bocoe? Where's my breakfast?" the mad scientist demanded of two robots.

The vaguely humanoid bots clambered to do their master's bidding when the communications unit lit up and began beeping. "I'll get it!" they both shouted and ran into each other.

Eggman groaned and answered the call himself. "Yeeesss?" The video screen flickered on and a veritable mirror image of Eggman was reflected in its visage. Almost...the figure had slightly different styled clothing and a gray mustache. "**Nega?**" Eggman exclaimed.

"Ahh...Doctor Eggman, so good of you to remember me. It's been a looong time...or has it?" the figure said while rubbing its chin. The two robots behind Eggman gave each other dubious looks.

"Of course, how could I forget my genetic doppleganger? How is the future? Bright and cheery?" Eggman grinned while twiddling his wiry red mustache between his fingers.

"Painfully so, which is precisely why I've decided to give you a call...I have the most brilliant plan for world domination, but I need a bit of help..." Nega continued in all confidence.

"You do?" Eggman raised a brow in mused tone. "How so?"

"Well, as you saw fit to banish me to the future for not meeting _your_ expectations, I've had a lot of time to catch up on my history studies. It seems that, if I have contacted you at the right time, you're massing an invasion fleet bound for Earth," Eggman Nega informed the original. "However, as I sit here in this rosy, happy future it's also apparent that you've done nothing but fail…. I believe I can help."

Any pretense of a smile Eggman might have had disappeared at that. Nega had been a huge success in some ways, and a failure in others. The brilliant doctor rarely dabbled in genetics, but the clone was perfect save the color of his mustache...and a certain malice in his personality that exceeded Eggman's. "What exactly are you planning?"

"Ahh…well, just a little something I've already set in motion. You've probably noticed the ripple in the fabric of time and space already." He waited for his creator to nod. "Well, I too have been massing an army. Our combined forces would be more than enough for Earth's defenses."

"Well...there is a little problem with that in the form of moving an army across dimensions…." Eggman interjected.

Nega grinned widely, "Oh that won't be a problem. I know you're already working on creating an artificial World Gate, but I'm thinking on a far larger scale."

"Doctor! Something's being downloaded to the main computer!" Decoe informed.

"Let's say I've done you one better...all it requires is a few Chaos Emeralds and…." Nega trailed off.

"And...?" Dr. Eggman the original queried.

"Let's say that...in order to call the future to the past...one must call to the future from the past," Nega said cryptically. "I already have my _Element_... The documents you're receiving now will tell you all you need to know." He paused a moment and then a dramatic air fell about him. "I highly suggest you go along with me on this...or else..." And with that the transmission cut off.

_"_How**dare** that preposterous impostor give **me** such an ultimatum?!" Eggman grumbled, instantly in a foul mood. He moved over to the computer, glancing over the details of what was going on...and paled. "You've _got to be joking..._" Decoe and Bocoe looked at each other, not comprehending the true gravity of what was painted on the doctor's face.

--------------------------

At this time on Earth, the party for Shadow was just breaking apart. All the minor guests had gone home, and Shadow finally seemed to relax around the remaining guests. Maria and Blitz had upstaged the one for whom the party was thrown by trying to walk and having a playful brawl on the living room carpet. Of course, Shadow didn't mind that the attention had shifted away from him.

Both Chucks had been in a heated discussion off in a corner of the room, but now they looked on those who remained. Tails had hung around and was happily on the floor, monitoring the two hedgehogs' match. Chris was next to him in equal fascination. Amy and Sara were discussing the children, which had been their main source of bonding lately. Rouge and High Octane were still there, and Knuckles. Shadow was still there, of course, and Sonic as well, though he was joining in on Octane and Rouge's conversation, leaving the dark hedgehog to watch the scene unraveling before him in a passive way. Everyone else had left, and the hedgehog Charles nodded to his human friend, now was the time to talk.

"Excuse me," Grandpa chuck said, sitting down on one end of the table, the hedgehog seating himself on the couch opposite him. All eyes moved to him as one, save for the babies. "I'm sorry to interrupt the party, but Chuck and I have been talking about the third echo, and we think you should all know some things about it..."

"Ehh? What is it, Grandpa?" Chris sat up and turned to his grandpa. Blitz bumped up against the human teen and crawled into his lap. He smiled a bit like that and stroked the hedgehog's head while listening.

"Hmmm... It's about the dimensional pull, isn't it?" Tails asked as though everyone else understood what he was talking about. Knuckles was furthest removed from the conversation, though Rouge and Sam exchanged looks.

"What have you found out?" Sam questioned.

"Well, our time spear managed to send back some data on the third echo...it is the future," Charles the hedgehog said from his vantage point.

"Earth's future or Mobius, hon?" Rouge asked in a tone that sent shivers through Knuckle's spine. He really hated that bat...so why was he staring at her ample chest?

"Well..." the wrinkled human had responded, "both."

"Eeeh? How can it be both?" Amy blinked.

"Well...the images the probe sent back had landmarks both from Earth and Mobius..." Chuck hedgehog continued for his friend, "the floating island being the most notable landmark, the Statue of Liberty….. Some of the geography differs from the present and the cities seem to have spread further apart...but the whole thing looks rather...strangely peaceful."

Sam folded his hands into his lap and tried to follow the conversation. "So what else? It must be important to include us all..." he indicated to present company.

Chuck Thorndyke nodded. "Well, as you know...Mobius and Earth exist parallel to each other. The planetary synchronization is what allows our two worlds to interact as it does through the World Gate. However parallel we are, though, the gate is almost a mirror, like Earth and Mobius are a right and left hand, joined together when they touch." He put his fingertips together as a demonstration. "The recent activity and, as Tails said...dimensional pull, are actually causing our worlds to become further synchronized."

"Well if we're in synch already, how can it get any better?" Rouge inquired.

The human continued again, "That's kind of the point; if the two worlds fully synchronize, one of two things will happen...either the two worlds will merge harmlessly and become the image we saw in the echo or..."

"Disaster?" Shadow spoke up, causing heads to turn his way. "What are you all staring at? Forget I was alive?" He shrugged. "It's not that hard of a conversation to follow."

Both scientists nodded. "We've actually detected a change in the third echo's...signal, if you will," Charles hedgehog added. "It's getting stronger and changing in frequency. It's also likely the strange weather has been caused by the dimensional shift."

"So what does that mean?" Sonic put in. He was watching Blitz calmly seated in Chris' lap without a care in the world, not even an inkling that the world might be in trouble.

"The echo isn't in synch with either Mobius or Earth yet, though it's...approaching... If the dimensional pull doesn't continue to alter in a significant way, well..." Mr. Thorndyke sighed.

"We're still trying to figure it out. We think someone is influencing the shift in the worlds. The probe didn't indicate the source of the shift, and from a cursory glance, it doesn't seem like anyone even knows about it," the light blue hedgehog put in. "If that really is the future, then we may be worried for nothing…the two worlds can exist as one and the gate will simply disappear."

Chris was happy about the prospect of the two worlds merging; it meant he would always be on the same planet as his best friend. The apprehension of the adults dampened his spirits, though, and he worried there might not be a world left after...

"So what will happen? I mean...you mean the worlds are going to collide?" Worry flooded his tone. He pinned Blitz a bit more than the child wanted while he was distracted, so Chris had to flinch as delicate quills once again pricked his hand.

"That's about the size of it..." Mr. Thorndyke concluded. "I can't tell you why or any of that at this time; you understand why you were told, right?" He turned to Rouge and Sam.

The two of them nodded, and Sam answered, "Yeah. We're both working for the government... We can get this information to those who need to hear it. You're also concerned about gathering more information so we know what we're up against... That means...you're asking for help."

"No matter how much money the Thorndykes have, and I appreciate the fine facilities which we've been working with...as a matter of manpower...or otherwise…." Charles grinned a bit. "We need help from this point on."

Silence fell over the room in a thick blanket. Nobody said anything for a few minutes. The obvious question about what to do or how to stop it was still an unknown. There was no point in asking.

"Papa! Papa! Look!" All eyes darted to Maria, who was holding onto a table edge and standing on her own two feet. "Look! Look!" She giggled madly as she let go of the table edge and remained standing. Tension slipped away rapidly as the crowd, but mostly Shadow, marveled at her first steps.

---------------------

Maria was crying again. She went six hours this time. Shadow was keeping count. It had been an emotionally trying day for the two of them. He hadn't realized until that morning how stressed out Sara had been, and how much of that stress he was the source of. The least he could do was check on their baby.

Once again, he entered the rainbow room, though he could have sworn he saw a brief flash in the room. Maybe a firefly had gotten inside? "You just love being the center of attention, don't you?" He stepped up onto the toy chest and reached into the crib for his little girl. She was getting heavier, and he felt the strain on his weakened body. Ahh well, he was healing...that was the important thing.

He sat down in the rainbow rocking chair with his little girl and smiled at her. She was a little treasure, wasn't she? He examined her big round face, its dazzling ruby eyes, her deep reddish bangs. They were very fine to the touch, and Sara had compared her bangs to his white chest fur. The deep midnight blue looked almost black in the dim baby room, lit only by a My Little Pony night light.

Again she started fussing. It took a few minutes for Shadow to calm her, finally giving her a plush Care Bear to shut her up. "You did very good today...walking like that. Blitz hasn't yet." He grinned a bit. His rivalry with Sonic would likely extend to Blitz and Maria again. Though Blitz definitely had more raw energy and strength, Maria had better motor skills and control; she also fussed less, according to Amy. With _him_ as a father, though, there was little chance Blitz would be allowed to have more than a ten second attention span, so the more quietly reared Maria had focus.

Focus she did. Her eyes locked with Shadow's again, and an eerie sensation came over him. "He needs help..."

"...Who needs help?" he asked in a very calm tone.

"He does. He says he's the Element." Maria's voice was soft but very clear. Her eyes held his gaze a bit longer.

"Element?" Shadow blinked. That simple action seemed to have broken the link, and once more he was holding his daughter.

"Emen...t?" She blinked in total confusion.

"Who or what is the Element?" Shadow asked her. There was no reply, just baby noises.

"Paaapaaa!" she practically sung, and curled up to his chest warmly.


	17. Earthshaking Moments

Over the course of the following two weeks there had been a shift in routine for the primary guests at Shadow's party. Tails had returned to Mobius to start working with Rotor on their side of the World Gate about the echo and synchronization that was happening. Since Rotor was head of the Science Council, resources were not a problem. On the other side of the gate, the two aging scientists who'd been holed up in the Thorndyke mansion were suddenly allowed access to military facilities normally top secret. Of course, an impending apocalypse could have pulled a few strings for the pair.

Though Sam and Rouge were far from the scientific types, they did their part in monitoring any strange reports they came across. Rouge had a hunch about something, which she was working on with her human partner Topaz. Sam's end of things had gained him a temporary promotion, at a desk job. He was regretting being an unofficial emissary between humans and Mobians sometimes... A desk job? Him?! His only reprieve from that would be racing Sonic home at the end of the day.

The ones who had the least to do for the time being were the two hedgehog families. As a waitress, Amy wasn't likely to encounter anything unusual. Sonic's job as a pizza delivery boy wasn't going to garner him any science credits. Sara's line of work as a veterinary assistant wasn't likely to yield any information either. Now Shadow, on the other hand, at least worked at a research center. His colleagues had told him many times that Earth animals seemed sensitive to changes in their environment, ranging from forecasting thunderstorms to earthquakes. How that would help, he hadn't a clue.

* * *

Since Chris was out of school, he'd become the primary babysitter for both Blitz and Maria. He really enjoyed taking care of them, and it gave him something to do. Even if they hadn't paid him, he would have gladly volunteered. One might have wondered why, as the poor boy was continually getting scratched and poked by the pair, but he was determined to learn how to handle them without getting mortally wounded. Chris' friends were all regarded in high esteem, but his Mobian friends were a special treasure; he was the first human to encounter one, and Sonic of all people. With all the adventures they'd had and how many times Sonic had saved his life, of course he had to marvel at just being allowed access to his child. Though he didn't share the same kind of friendship with Shadow, he'd trusted Maria with him at his mate's urging.

Today his services were not needed, though. Shadow had offered to take Maria to the MRC for a checkup and some shots. Despite having to go back to work, he'd spent as much time as he could with his daughter. He had taken over for Sara whenever she cried at night, which somewhat surprised her. Still, with the possibility that the world was going to end, she thought he might just be trying to cram in some quality time. Perhaps that's why she didn't question his motives when taking her to the MRC.

Shadow had no problem getting the Gear Bike to do what he wanted and was at the doctor's in record time. Dr. Garrett was back on Earth, though Dr. Quack was still hanging around, so both were consequently in the exam room even though only one of them would be needed. Shadow said nothing as Quack made commentary to Garrett on the infant. Dr. Quack had a lot of experience with Mobian babies; he'd been present at possibly half of Knothole's births since becoming a doctor. A small blood sample was drawn for the MRT's needs, and the vaccination shot was administered.

"Ahh, there we go... Good baby, didn't even flinch," the duck said in an encouraging tone. "She's really very healthy, Shadow, you're doing a good job."

"Thanks..." There was a long pause in the conversation. Normally Quack would have dismissed him, but Shadow's eyes had a special kind of inquiry to them, mingled with the burning glare he once held on a daily basis.

"Umm...is there something else I can help you with?" the duck physician asked.

"Yes..." Shadow glanced at Maria.

"Well what is it?" Dr. Garrett now spoke. "Is your chest bothering you?"

"No..." He shook his head. "It's Maria... Something strange happened a few weeks back…." Shadow began. "I was looking after her for Sara one night and she...looked at me funny..."

"Probably gas," the human suggested, only to be set on with a vicious stare. Shadow would have made a wonderful vampire; his ability to intimidate was phenomenal.

"It was like she was someone else for a minute...and she said 'He's dreaming,'" the ebony hedgehog continued as though he hadn't heard a thing.

Dr. Garret adjusted his glasses and looked over to the hedgehog. "I'm not quite sure...with your kind, what is normal where learning to speak or stringing sentences together is concerned...Dr. Quack?"

"Hmmm..." The avian rubbed his chin (the underside of his beak) and looked thoughtful. "Well...it's not uncommon for Mobian children to start dabbling with speech between four to seven months."

"Was this an isolated event?" the human addressed Shadow.

"No... At first, I just dismissed it, but a few days ago she did it again. This time she said 'He needs help.'"

Dr. Quack looked both puzzled and intrigued. "For your information, Dr. Garrett...it is uncommon for them to start stringing words together until at least five to six months, and usually the bulk of their terminology is limited to one and two syllable words."

"Did she say anything else?" the human quizzed again.

Shadow nodded "I asked who needed help, and she said 'He does. He says he's the _Element_.'" There was an ominous tone about the whole thing.

There was silence between the two, and they looked back at each other. "Hmmmm... Well what do you want us to do about this?" Dr. Quack finally asked.

"Run some tests, do whatever...I want to know what's going on." His expression was stoic and humorless.

"We could do a brain scan or two..." the human offered, "though I'm not quite sure what to be looking for, or what to do if we find something."

"Has anyone else been present when she's done this?" the Mobian doctor inquired.

"No. Not that I know of...Sara would have told me." Shadow felt a little guilty for not telling her about Maria's "strange words."

Quack looked pensive before he spoke again, "I'll see about comparing the scans to normal brain activity for her age range... It would be helpful if you could bring her back a few more times over the following weeks, though." He saw Shadow's ear twitch in mild agitation. "It can't be helped...but definitely bring her back if this should happen again...I'm rather curious about this phenomenon."

The human beside him nodded. "If it's any consolation to you, though, she seems to be in top physical condition."

Shadow gathered Maria into his arms, but Quack spoke again, "I would warn any babysitters and Sara if I were you."

"Well you're not me, are you?" He gave his daughter an inspection, making sure she hadn't been mishandled during the exam. It didn't matter if Quack or Garrett had been the best doctors on both worlds or not; he felt compelled to make sure she was all right. He smoothed out her wild bangs, which never seemed to stay down for long.

"Well think about this, Shadow...what happens if she starts babbling like that in front of her mother?" Shadow had no answer for the anatidae. "I'm just speculating, since that's all we have at this point, but you could be the trigger for these episodes...but it could also happen at any time around anybody. Shouldn't she be prepared for that?"

"I'll think about it...but first, you wanted to run some tests?"

* * *

Sonic returned from a downtown run to the little pizza shop known as Vinnie's. The bell chimed upon entering, and he was greeted by Tony's sunny smile. "Hey, boss! Any more to go out? I'm just on fire today!" Sonic tapped a shoe against the hard tile floor.

Tony laughed, "You know, with you here, I almost don't need to hire anyone else." He took the bills from Sonic and handed him back the tip. "Man, I wish people tipped like that when I was out doin' deliveries."

Sonic's grin widened even further. "Eh! You just have to know how to talk to people."

"Right right…." Tony returned the smile. "No orders just yet. Just you, me, and All My Children." He pointed to a TV set up to entertain the walk-ins. Sonic rolled his eyes at that. "Discovery had a special on Mobians, comparing you guys to our Earth animals. What do you think of that?"

"Ehh...I don't mind." Sonic shrugged. He grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels.

"I had some guy the other day ask if you ate meat." He glanced at Sonic, who gave a laugh at that. "I saw a lion ordering a salad the other day, bunch of folks just looked at him like he was crazy." He laughed.

Sonic landed on a news channel. It wasn't his favorite thing in the world, but there was nothing on otherwise. They were talking about the strange weather patterns... Sonic knew the reason, but that part hadn't been revealed. He wondered if and when the press would release the apocalyptic data but figured they wanted to avoid a panic. "Tony, I just could _not_ be a vegetarian...chilidogs are just way too tasty." The both of them got a laugh out of that before the phone rang.

"Vinnie's Pizza, we deliver hot n' fresh in 30 minutes or less! Tony speaking," the store's owner said in a clear, upbeat voice. "Yes, yes we do... Uh huh...olives, green peppers, and ground beef. Would you like any crust toppers...? Garlic butter? Sure sure...this is for Andrews? Gotcha." He turned to his small buddy. "You remember the Andrews' residence, right?"

"Yep, sure do!" Sonic flexed his legs while Tony prepared the pizza. In about ten minutes he was out the door.

* * *

A lavender cat was racing through a jungle. She was out of breath; she'd been running since early morning, and still those _things_ were after her. Under one arm she was carrying the red Chaos Emerald. That was the reason for her pursuers. She ran down a white stone path that had been set there centuries ago, pillars jutting out of the landscape ahead of her in a regular pattern. One of the spherical robots chasing her shot a high powered laser at her and missed.

She gasped as it struck one of the pillars, which began to crumble. She didn't think she was fast enough to go under the falling structure, but she couldn't afford to stop. A quick glance at her surroundings revealed a crack in the ground ahead. A blazing fire seemed to engulf her as she jumped high into the air. Whirling around like a top, she then suddenly shifted so the point of her pink and white boots angled sharply downward. Her body followed the direction in an earth-shattering smash right through the cracked stone.

Her amber eyes quickly adjusted to the failing light, as any good cat's should. Her breathing became more labored as she raced through a ruined aqueduct, still being chased by the search robots. The hovering spheroids shooting lasers at her weren't even made for combat, for crying out loud!

If it was a fight she wanted, though, her sensitive feline ears picked up the sounds of heavy mechanical footfalls a short distance away._Crap!_ She huffed, and quickly attempted to change her course from the passage she'd been going down. Just a glance told her that there were about 15-20 humanoid robots on the other side of the drop-off.

Her heart raced as she tore down a side tunnel at a sharp downward angle. "Uuwaaa!" Her heel sank into a crack and caused her to twist at an odd angle while falling. "Nooo! Aaahh...!" The emerald slipped from her grip. A cold air rushed from beneath her; this part of the aqueduct had been built through an underground cave system...a large one. It was at least a one hundred-foot drop from where she was to the cave floor, which she didn't care to visit just yet.

Her mind raced to figure out what to do. In a few seconds, the search bots would be there, and not far behind would be the sentinel-types. She got up quickly but let out a not-so-subtle cry of pain._Great...I'm going to be dead meat for sure...!_ Her heart thumped in her chest, blocking out most other noises. A slight scraping sound caught her attention, and she saw the emerald being carried by gravity toward a break in the duct system. If it fell here...

Ignoring the pain in her ankle, Blaze sprinted forward. "I...can't lose...not now!" The burning desire in her soul manifested itself in flames, which propelled her to the stone before it went over the edge; the momentum she had carried her almost to the other side of the break in the duct before the flames died out. "Aahhh!"

She held onto the ledge with one hand, the other busy clinging to the emerald. Fear mounted as the clanking of many metal feet clamored through the passage she'd just come down. One of the search bots zoomed through the area, completely overlooking her, while a second darted about her like some kind of evil bumble bee. "Go away!" Blaze yelled as she tried to pull herself up. With one arm, it would be impossible, but she couldn't seem to bear letting go.

"I couldn't do that, my dear," Nega's voice channeled through the machine, a large mechanical shutter acting as an eye for the spheroid bot as it came to rest on the feline.

"N-Nega...! Rrr... You have some nerve!" she almost hissed at him. A bit of the ledge broke away, sending a few fragments and dust in her face.

"I need that emerald, so please, be a good dear and return it. I promise you no harm will come to you if you go along with me."

Blaze coughed a bit, then looked up. The irises in her eyes contracted to tiny dots as the visage of Mecha Sonic 3.0 came into view. "...No..."

"Come now, we know you've lost...your Majesty...give it up," Nega's voice came cruelly. With a wordless order, Blaze's fingertips felt the pressure of a mechanical foot.

It didn't matter if she fell or not...the robots could get it later. She took a deep breath and wedged the emerald more firmly under her arm. Her hand now free somewhat, she sifted through a pocket on her deep purple shirt for something--a device she'd stolen from Nega…. "Sorry..." She let go of the ledge and began to fall. The fire within manifested itself again, slowing her descent, but with Mecha 3 about to go after her, she had only seconds. The red emerald began to glow, not from the firelight, and in a flash of light...all was gone...

* * *

Sonic whistled as he leafed through a stack of bills he'd been handed from his delivery to the Andrews. They were more than generous tippers. "Heh! Wait 'til Tony sees this."

Proud of his achievement, Sonic started running down the busy streets of Station Square. Since Tony hadn't paged him, he assumed he had time to get back, so he ran straight up the side of a building and then meandered his way back on the rooftops, thoroughly enjoying himself. A flash of red caught his eye as something fell from it...accompanied by a scream… "What the--?!"


	18. Chaotic Moments

Without a word uttered, Chaos Control flashed around Sonic in mid jump. _What the-!_ The world around him slowed to a complete crawl. It was more severe than he'd ever seen the time warp as he closed the gap between himself and the falling feline. The red gem that left her hand caused Sonic no small amount of shock as he grabbed both it and the cat into his arms. Chaos Control's influence seemed even more severe, and the light so harsh, Sonic squinted to see through the glare, the world seeming to move into black and white. His fall also seemed slowed somehow as the world rose up to meet his feet.

The control lasted for what seemed a couple of minutes after the blue hedgehog had returned to terra-firmae. A quick examination of the unconscious form told him the obvious; she was hurt. The next logical step was to take her to the MRC. Tony would understand... He began his mad dash to the hospital, though his eyes wondered if the world would ever catch up to _his_ time. As he pulled out his cell and dialed the pizza place, the world returned to its normal rhythms.

* * *

"AHA!" Rouge beamed, examining a rather lengthy data sheet before her.

"What is it now?" Topaz replied. The human female went over the bat, looking over her shoulder and brushing a strand of her short hair from her face.

"I think I'm onto something." She gave a toothy grin.

"May I remind you, we were not assigned to investigate jewel heists, Miss Rouge?" she said with some annoyance.

"Ahhh but even an old hag like you can appreciate this." She brought up a screen on the PC before her, showing a couple charts.

"Old hag! Why you---!" she began, but stopped as she assimilated the data before her. "I see...Chaos Emeralds?"

The white bat nodded. "Mmm hmm," her voice almost purred in ecstasy at her discovery. Her voice always carried a sultry tone to it, but mixed with pride it was almost intolerable to the human who'd been saddled with the Mobian partner. "Two Emeralds...this one was being kept here on Earth; this one is a recent report from Mobius."

"...It looks like the 'world pull' was affected shortly after the emeralds were stolen," the agent commented.

"Mmmhmm...and both within the last two weeks," Rouge finished.

"There's seven emeralds...so that means there's five more," Topaz said more to herself than the bat, following the same conclusion as the bat; the incidents were not isolated.

"Probably Eggman," Rouge followed. "Tails has the yellow emerald as the power source for the X-Tornado. Sonic has the red emerald."

"Where are the other three?" Topaz asked as she went to a neighboring terminal. The emeralds seemed to move about quickly no matter where they landed on either world. Gathering them together was seldom for the good of the world.

"Hmm... Well, Knuckles has the Master Emerald; we can always ask him if needs be." Rouge tapped a couple of keys, and the computer accessed the World Net (which was different than the domestic WWW of Earth). "He probably has the green one too. As for the last two, I don't know...Eggman could already have them in his possession..."

"Scary thought," Topaz sighed. She also switched to World Net and did a search for the emeralds. If they weren't in a museum or some treasury of some sort, they were often hidden away in odd locations. Knuckles and Rouge seemed to be able to sense them at close range, and Knuckles could use the Master Emerald to trace them if all else failed. Knowing what she did about the Mobian she was working with, there were also people who could make sensors to trace their energy signatures as well. "I'm not finding it, you?"

"No…. Looks like the emeralds we're missing fell off the face of the worlds." She frowned a bit. "They could be anywhere. Haven't been seen since Sonic's last collecting spree."

Topaz laughed a bit. "There's not a jewel on the planet you can't track down. I'm sure we'll find it eventually."

"Mmmm...right." Rouge grinned, baring her twin fangs. "Well, the eggheads should get this info while we start an emerald hunt. Ahh...I haven't seen those beautiful sparklers in a while," Rouge mused. Topaz had seldom heard her speak passionately about anything except jewels.

* * *

Tony let Sonic take the rest of the day off after depositing the cat at the MRC. Sonic had kept the emerald with him, though he was still a bit puzzled at both of their appearances. He had a very strong feeling he'd met her somewhere before but had nothing but a weird feeling to speak of. He didn't know if he should stay or not. Outside the MRC building, he checked his cell phone, switching between Chris' and Amy's phone numbers. He should tell them something...but what...?

Finally he dialed Chris' cell phone. "Hey, Chris?"

"Sonic! Wow, Tony let you go home early or something?" the human boy answered excitedly.

"Ahh...sort of. Look…." He explained about finding the cat falling from the sky, but not the incident with the emerald. Even now he felt like he was going faster than usual and the world was still slightly slowed. It was leaving him with a really unsettled feeling. "I'd...is Uncle Chuck there? I need to tell him something."

"Yeah, hold on." Chris went to find Charles hedgehog, which was not much of a chore. He and his grandpa had taken the day off since they hadn't slept the last four days. It had caught up with the two aging gentlemen, and Sonic's uncle was to be found laid back on a couch with an equally sleepy baby boy curled on his chest.

After a minute he was awake enough to answer the call, putting it on speaker mode. Many Mobians preferred this or a headset since human phones weren't made to accommodate the distance between their ears and their mouths. "Hello? Sonic?"

"Hey, Unc... Umm...I saved this cat today from falling and well...it was weird."

"I'm listening..." Chuck set the cell phone on the table next to him and got into a more upright position while trying not to disturb Blitz.

"She had a Chaos Emerald with her... The red one," Sonic's tone had an unusual tension to it,

"...Well... that's…." Chuck paused. "Well the Emeralds are rare enough to find, but what's the problem with that?"

"Well..." Sonic reached behind his back and fished out two emeralds from his quills. "...I have two red emeralds now."

"Two! Impossible!" Chuck nearly fell out of his seat at that statement as Blitz suddenly started crying.

"Hey! Don't be like that!" Chris's voice rang through loud and clear as he went to comfort the baby.

"I know...but it's true!" Sonic looked at the two brilliant gemstones. That certainly explained why the Chaos Control was so powerful... When the emeralds were separate for any prolonged length of time, they needed to adjust to the others' presence. A reaction would happen between them, but since it was the same emerald, the effect had been more profound.

"Hmm...I'm not doubting you, Sonic…. Wait a second, Chris!" Charles stopped him from getting another palm full of quills and showed him how to properly handle a squealing pincushion.

"Aww come on, Blitz, you're my lil' man, stop bawling, will you?" Sonic grinned a bit at hearing his son's antics in spite of the business he had with his uncle. "I'm going to stay here 'til the cat wakes up, see what she knows. Hmm...if she was followed, though... Is Shadow doing anything today?"

"Not my day to watch him," Charles replied. Chris managed to calm the baby boy down. "Why?"

"Well...she was probably being chased because of the emerald...so I kinda wanted to split them up." Sonic twitched an ear and hid the emeralds back into his quills.

* * *

Mecha 3.0 had scoured the base of the fall for several hours. "There is no sign of the queen or the emerald, Doctor," the machination replied in a cold tone.

"Not good enough!" Nega's voice carried through one of the spheroid robots that had been following her in the first place.

"Orders?" It gave off a brief burst from the rockets on its heels, giving it lift enough to reach a high ledge.

"Hnnn... I have a good idea where she's gone. Return to base, I'll need to send you on a little trip through time. You don't mind, do you?

"No," it replied simply.

"Good. Get going."

"If the power of the emeralds is unlimited, Doctor, why do you need all seven?" it asked as it returned through the aqueducts. It issued silent orders to the robots it passed, shining white and standing six feet tall, each one brandishing at least one gun arm. They all bent to its will. There was an aura about this creation that no robot Dr. Eggman built had ever carried with it. It had a dangerous aura, clad with authority.

"The emeralds should be thought of as a living organism, though... They work as one."

"So you need them all. I see," the metal creation replied. "Then, I do not understand why you need the Element as well."

"The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power. Power is enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos," Eggman Nega repeated the phrase an orange echidna had once spoken to Sonic and his gang many generations ago from his current time.

"I do not understand," it replied 

While only the foolish robots Eggman made had ever questioned his orders, this intelligent robot was questioning Nega. He seemed pleased outwardly as the smile on his face widened. "It means that the emeralds have no direction without a will to guide them. With the loss of the Master Emerald, that means the Element."

"I see. Why not use your own will?" it said in a dull, lifeless tone.

"Why should I when the Element I've chosen makes things far more interesting? I'm sure my creator is finding things interesting in his time." There was more than a slight hint of animosity in his tone.

".._Interesting..._" Mecha Sonic said as he reached the surface and was cast into the bright sunlight. His optic sensors switched from infrared to normal operations. "It is fun for you. I see. I will try to have fun too. That is what my original would do."


	19. Innocent's News

Sonic had left a text message for Shadow to meet him at the MRC, since he wasn't answering his cell phone. Of course, he had no way of knowing that was because Shadow was at the MRC right now, waiting for Maria's testing to finish. He'd contacted Amy too, letting her know about the unexpected twist in his day.

At present he was waiting by the feline's side and wondering what her story was. Eventually her eyes started to flutter open. "Ahh! You're awake!" Sonic said with some relief.

"Ooowww...what hit--oh...!" The cat tried to get up quickly but fell back against the bed, dizzy. "Wh--where am I!" Her eyes shot open wide, her golden eyes scanning desperately for any threats. Her eyes resting on the blue hedgehog who'd saved her, she immediately felt something...but she couldn't say what. "...Who are you?"

"Sonic. Sonic the hedgehog." He smiled. 

"Nega...? Metal?" Her voice shivered with her body, recalling the fatiguing run she'd been in, presumably that morning.

"Nega?" Sonic looked puzzled.

"Oh! The emerald!" The feline's eyes held a frantic edge to them.

"Hold on, it's safe!" Sonic said in total confidence. His emerald eyes locked with hers and somehow that calmed her. "Can I get a name?"

"Oh uhh...Blaze…." For the first time since waking up, she checked over her condition. Her hand didn't bother her, but her ankle felt like it was on fire. "Nnn...I need to get the emerald...I..."

"I told you, it's safe with me." Sonic scratched behind his ear as the door to the recovery room opened and a black and red hedgehog walked in with a baby girl in one arm. "Hey, Shads! You're a bit late aren't you?"

"...Call me Faker, damn it…." Shadow grumbled at him. "Hmph…." He looked at the cat, also seeing something mildly familiar about her. "So what about the emerald? Why did you have it?"

"I was stealing it from Nega..." Blaze started without asking him an introduction. "He has five of them now…. If he gets them all...I...I don't know what will happen, but it's bad! The weather started acting funny a few months ago. I've been trying to find out why... It has to be Eggman Nega."

"Eggman?" both hedgehogs exclaimed.

"Well that explains a lot." Sonic took a deep breath. "She's from the echo."

"Echo?" Blaze looked at the two quizzically.

"Sorry, you're on Earth..." Shadow began. "The neighboring dimension is Mobius, and between the two there's a gate. That's how our kind are here... But now the worlds are being drawn even closer, and there's an 'echo' coming too... My father-in-law said it's the future of both worlds."

"...The future..." Blaze breathed in disbelief. She looked Sonic over again. "AHH! You're the robot!"

"Eh?" Sonic blinked and twitched an ear.

The lavender cat nodded her head vigorously. "Yeah! There's a robot called Mecha...Mecha...Sonic 3.0... Nega built him, but I can see now, he's based on you. OH! He was chasing me, I hope he doesn't come here!" She wondered if he too had a portable gate generator and would be hot on her heels. Knowing Nega needed the seven emeralds, it was likely the past wouldn't be safe with her here.

"Sounds like Eggman's doing all right," Sonic sighed. "Man, what a bother." He twitched an ear in thought. "Ha! Then again, I'm up for a challenge, it's been a while! What about you Sha—oh..." He'd forgotten his "friend" had been hurt recently.

"I need to go home, just give me the emerald, okay?" Shadow said in an even tone. "If you've been followed, the robot won't be looking for you; it's the emerald, right?" He saw the apprehensive cat nod. "Sonic has a good idea for once, we're splitting up the emeralds. Don't worry, it'll be safe with me."

"Splitting up?" Blaze asked with a concerned look.

Sonic fished the two emeralds from his quills, the red sparklers starting to light up. Maria looked at the bright stones, giggling. "Yeah, welcome to the past, we got 'em here too." He turned to Shadow and handed the dark hedgehog the gemstone.

Maria reached for it, and he thought nothing of it until the room was enveloped in a bright red flash of light. "Oh! You brought me here?" the little hedgehog said while staring directly at Blaze.

"What the!" Sonic started in amazement.

Shadow looked at his girl while she slipped into another episode, this one directly triggered by the red Chaos Emerald. "What now?"

"He's still there... And in pain," Maria said clearly.

"Who is he? Who is this...Element?" Shadow asked in a calm tone. Sonic's mouth hung open and Blaze's ears went back. Neither of them had ever seen anything like this.

"He is...the...the white hedgehog," Maria said in a smooth voice. Her crimson eyes had lost their black irises and now more closely resembled the emerald she was now holding onto.

"Silver?" Blaze said in a frightened whisper; the child nodded.

"He is the Element of the future. But the Element from the past...has yet to be determined," Maria continued.

"What is this Element?" Shadow asked in a firm tone.

"It's what Nega needs to unite the past and future. But it's hurting him. He wants to live. I can feel it." Maria's tone remained as steady as her father's. "We want him to be free, but we must follow the stronger will, which Nega has forced on him."

"Uh...excuse me?" Sonic finally said, finding his voice in the glowing red light that washed over the room. "Who are we?"

"The Emeralds," Maria replied. "We're heading for disaster…. Save us too."

The light in the room disappeared from the Chaos Emeralds, and once again the world returned to normal. Natural light returned to Maria's eyes, and the babe snuggled against her father's chest, cooing and carrying on like a normal baby once more. Outside the building, though, the flash of light had garnered unwanted attention.

"Umm...Shadow?" Sonic looked at his friend and Maria in concern. "What you been feeding that kid?"

"Hmph." Shadow snorted at Sonic and tucked the emerald into his quills. "It doesn't matter, I don't think it will happen again. We know enough." He looked to Blaze. "So you want to save your friend in the future? It looks like we have a common goal now."

* * *

Outside the MRC, a blue robot targeted the window outside. There was a buildup of energy from his hands, and a second later, a hole was blown in the side of the hospital room. Blaze's screams echoed inside, as well as a crying baby and a few curses from Sonic and Shadow. 

The metal hedgehog was pleased and flew in to see what he'd done. "Get her out of here!" Sonic shouted, and the metal being was surprised by a homing attack that collided with him upon reaching the opening he'd made in the side of the building.

"Hang onto me," Shadow commanded as he helped the cat out of the hospital bed. He could hear staff running to check out what the explosion was about, but there was no time for explanations.

"Aaah! But you're hurt too!" Blaze remarked about his still bandaged chest.

"I'll just have to see how much I've recovered," he said calmly while Sonic had his metal doppleganger's attention. 

"Looks like Nega isn't that original...tch...Metal Sonic's been done to death."

"You are the original," the machination said in a cold and calculating voice. His sensors sprang to life, suddenly displaying combat statistics and analyzing his foe. The two clashed again in the air as Metal 3.0 gave a burst of speed from some propulsion unit, simulating a homing attack of his own.

"Yep! No fakers, please, accept no substitutions!" Sonic quipped. He let the momentum push him back toward the hospital, and then launched himself back at his foe.

Shadow had just reached the edge of the gaping hole in the building and looked down. They were on the 8th floor. "Long way down..." A moment later, Sonic flew back into the building and slammed against one of the hospital beds. "Can't you watch where you're going?" Blaze screamed right in his ear. The cause of her fear was apparent as Metal floated down to eye level.

"Hand over the emerald," it ordered.

Shadow sighed. "No original lines either. Sorry, she doesn't have what you want. This is a hospital, you know...you should show some respect." He kicked a chunk of fallen rubble into the robot's face, which it tried to disintegrate with an optic laser. In the meantime, Shadow leapt out the gaping hole and fell rapidly toward the ground, Blaze screaming the whole way. "Shut up!" he demanded, starting to control his fall until his feet touched against the building. The soles of his shoes lit with energy and he skated downwards at a brisk pace. He just worried about if he could make the transition to the ground as smoothly.

"Watch it!" Sonic's voice called from behind as he slammed a foot into Mecha Sonic 3, who had started flying after them. "It's a long way down, buddy!" He jumped and curled into a ball, another homing attack launched at the bot. It was very durable, it had that going for it.

Shadow managed to straighten out and keep running once he hit the ground level, but without gravity backing him, he was really feeling the strain on his body. _Damn sniper..._ he thought. He'd parked his Extreme Gear not far from where they were, but this Mecha Sonic was hyper-responsive compared to Eggman's original Metal or Mecha Sonic. "...Try not to scream, will you? I'm trying to hear what's going on behind us!" Blaze mutely nodded, though Maria began crying, something he couldn't do anything about at the moment.

"Is that all you got?" Sonic grinned and continued his hit-and-run tactics on the bot.

"No. Are you done having your fun?" it asked, going into a more leisurely flight after Shadow and Blaze.

"Huh? You kidding? I'm having a blast!" Sonic replied. _Weird…it asked me that...like it's alive._

"Well, I can make that a literal statement then," Metal 3 replied. The tone of its voice hadn't changed a bit, but some panels opened on its shoulders and Sonic was quite sure weapons were aimed from them. He was right, as twin missiles launched at them and he let two blasts fly from his wrists as well.

"Chaos...Control!" Sonic shouted. He really didn't want to use it to dodge the blasts but had no choice.

At the same time, though, Mecha 3 gave the same command. "Chaos...Control." Nega had given him an emerald as well, the silver one. He caught the shocked look on Sonic's face as he realized they were both moving at the same speed. "My my...this is fun."

"Aaaa... What's happening?" Blaze looked back at where the two fighters had been. The area was enveloped in smoke and neither figure was discernible through it.

"Don't worry about it. Sonic can handle himself." Shadow hopped onto the gear, cringing inside as his chest ached from the still tender injuries. "Make sure you guard her with your life," he said as he handed Maria to Blaze. The cat nodded, and held onto Shadow with one arm and the babe with the other.

Sonic harshly fell from the sky when Chaos Control had run its course. Even he had to cringe. But there was no time to stay down. He rolled into a spin dash just in time to dodge another onslaught of lasers from the robot. "Whoa..." Sonic found himself breathing heavily. "You aren't playing around, are you?"

Mecha 3 walked out of the smoke and debris of where Sonic had landed, a glowing ball of energy in his right palm. "I am following orders. I am also attempting to have fun."

"Lucky me, huh?" Sonic smirked. He'd have to lead the metal monster away from the hospital though; he played rough.

"Am I doing it right?" He sped toward Sonic, who had just enough time to dodge the nasty right hook. Its metal arm went into the building, and the energy it released caused a massive crack in the building extending three floors high.

"What the---! HEY! Over here, bud! That was NOT Cool!" Sonic taunted, heading away from the building and running circles.

The optics got a lock on the emerald Sonic had used when he turned to his adversary. "I am not ordered to kill you. I must retrieve the right emerald, though. That isn't it," it said and scanned the area. The fleeing vehicle; that was it. Mecha Sonic hit the afterburners and raced after his prey.

"HEY! Come on! We were fighting here!" Sonic called after it as Mecha had dismissed him. _Shadow's in no condition to fight!_

At the very least, Shadow had managed a head start. He checked the air gauge in the Gear; it was about half full. The rear view revealed his unpleasant suspicion they were being followed. "Good thing I'm not Sonic..." He flicked a switch on the Gear's controls and a panel opened up. There was a gun inside; it looked similar to a 9 mm gun, but different somehow.

"A gun?" Blaze asked. "But that won't hurt Metal…. He's too strong! The alloy…."

Shadow shrugged. "It's not an ordinary gun. I had Tails give it a tune-up." He grinned with something dangerous belying his smile. There was an air station just down the block. He'd be in need of it soon enough, and headed there, opening the Gear up to its top speed. A half pipe of wind opened in the vehicle's wake, something the automaton took full advantage of, riding his current.

"He's almost on us!" Blaze exclaimed as the Gear came to a dead stop at the air station. "We've stopped? But...!"

"Good bye, _Faker_." Shadow turned over his shoulder with the Gun aimed at Mecha and fired just as he reached point blank range. The gun did two things. First, a high powered laser burned a point on the metal surface, which, if it didn't melt away the metal, softened it. Next, the bullet embedded itself into the laser's hole, detonating a high explosive in its target.

Quite shocked to put it mildly, the robot flew back down the street, skidding on the pavement and crashing into a light post. There was a sickening scraping sound as its metal quills raked the pavement, and parts of its flawless metal blue paint job flaked away. Its skull was dented inward, but hardly destroyed.

"What..." Blaze began, but Shadow made her sit back down.

"Hang on!" The refueling done, the Gear took off in a gale. An explosion was heard behind them as Mecha 3 sent a storm of missiles after them.

"Ahh! Damn you're destructive!" Sonic slammed the robot back to the ground and repeated a homing attack several times at his back. "Picking on someone who's hurt! I'm still here, buddy!" After the brutal beating, Mecha 3 stood. The two hedgehog forms locked gazes. Sonic's determined emerald eyes shone brilliantly to his metallic blood red eyes. "Well? Come and get some!"

Metal 3 looked down the street. His scanners could no longer detect the emerald. "You made me lose my target. What a pity."

"Come on, man!" Sonic stayed in a defensive pose.

"I am sorry, I no longer have a reason to play with you. Perhaps Nega will let me destroy you once the Element has fulfilled its duty." Mecha shrugged.

"Eh? More of that Element stuff? Come on! Fight me!" Sonic demanded.

The Mecha version looked at the original lump of flesh it was based on. The vitals were impressive for its species; its biorhythms acted at a phenomenal rate. It looked at the hedgehog as though he were alien. His metal gaze stared at him as though he did not exist. At last he processed some data he could use. "We will meet again. It has been decided." The robot bowed. In a flash of Chaos Control..it was gone, leaving Sonic alone on the abandoned city street.


	20. Deprived Moments

Author Notes: E-91 hails from episode 17 of Sonic X. I felt she was a suitable robot for the task I've assigned. :3 I also felt this robot needed some fleshing out and remains my favorite adversary I've seen in the SX universe. (At least, that Eggman created.) 

* * *

"What do you mean she was 'speaking for the emeralds!' And who is she?" a very concerned Sara asked Shadow after he'd returned home with Blaze.

"Sorry...I really didn't want to get others involved…." Blaze the cat said honestly. "My name's Blaze." She limped her way over to the living room couch and started rubbing her ankle.

"Sorry I didn't say anything…." Shadow shifted uncomfortably on his feet before passing the baby to her mother. "She was saying things..."

"Saying things...great..." Sara groaned. She made her way back to the living room and had a seat across from Blaze on an E-Z chair. "How long has this been going on?"

"A few weeks... It was just a couple times." Shadow detected a particularly sour note in her voice. If she wasn't still nursing Maria, he was sure some Lindt chocolates would have smoothed things over. "I didn't want to worry you, that's all..."

Sara sighed a bit. She didn't know what to say to that. She lightly combed through her daughter's hair with her fingers and checked her over. She didn't seem harmed or strange at all. Her ruby eyes glittered with childish playfulness gleaming in them. "Mama!" Any hard feelings she might have held melted with that simple statement.

"How...did you get here anyway?" Sara finally asked Blaze.

"This..." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the gate device. "Eggman Nega created a 'gate generator.' It's supposed to take you between dimensions...I guess it also pulled me through time."

"Now that we know more of what's going on, we just need to figure out how to stop it," Shadow said conclusively.

"You've gotten involved more than enough...I can try to handle things myself," she said resolutely.

"Don't be stupid. It's everyone's problem and besides...your ankle's twisted..." A more interesting question came to his mind, "So...who's this Silver guy?"

"...A good friend of mine…." Blaze blushed a bit. Sara picked up on that right away. "He's a hedgehog...white fur...kind of fluffy mane around his chest and neck..." Sara grinned a bit at that. "He has psychokinetic powers..."

"That's it!" Shadow scratched behind his ear idly as the eyes in the room darted to him quickly. "Ahh..." He coughed and put a hand to his chest, that small action even causing him discomfort. "We're talking about moving worlds...I bet Nega is trying to amplify Silver's powers to move...well...worlds." His ear twitched lightly as he thought about who the _Element_ of the past might be.

"Well...I guess you're staying with us a while, Blaze," Sara said and set Maria down on the floor.

"Ahh..." Blaze began to protest, "I really shouldn't impose..."

Sara laughed a bit, setting Shadow more at ease. "Don't worry about it...I'm glad you showed up now... We have a real chance of setting things right now that we have a more complete picture. Sonic and the others have fought our Eggman numerous times, have a little faith in them." She couldn't help flashing Shadow a slightly concerned look. Charles had said by August, travel between Mobius and Earth would be strained…. Shadow was doing a lot better now; it was the fractured ribs the bullet caused that gave him more problems than the flesh wound. The surgery he'd undergone was to fish out splinters of bone more than the bullet that passed through him. In a week or so his only problem would be regaining his stamina...he was still getting winded easily.

"Thank you...I'll do whatever I can to help," Blaze offered.

"Well, I guess that starts with showing my dad that device you have there... He's a scientist." Sara replied.

The cat nodded. "Anything to put a stop to this nightmare."

* * *

Sonic had returned home shortly after Shadow. There was a lot of discussion over the situation and what to do from here. Sonic's news that Metal 3 went off without finishing the fight was foreboding news indeed. Then there was the matter of the present Element... Going off the assumption Silver's psychokinetic powers were the reason for his imprisonment in the future, they tried to decide who would have any connection to him or display similar powers. The thought that any of them could be related to him distantly came up, Sonic making the comment that if he was a white hedgehog he wasn't nearly as ugly as Shadow, so they couldn't possibly be related. Not much was settled but that Blaze would stay with Shadow and Sara, while Sonic delivered the gate generator to Uncle Chuck. It wouldn't take him long to return, at least. 

It was getting late and Shadow still hadn't come to bed. Sara left their apartment via the fire escape, finding him up on the rooftop, watching the light of day fade into the distance. She noticed something white next to him on the rail, the bandages that had been around his chest. 

"...Shadow?"

"I'm fine," he replied without turning back to her.

"Why are you out here?" She walked over to him. It was the first time the bandages had been off any length of time. A few of the quills on his back still needed to grow back where the bullet had left his body. She sat next to him on the edge of the roof and glanced at his chest. The black fur was almost back to its normal length, and the white tuft was about half way to its full glory. It was matted down from the bandage, but she couldn't see the wound through the fur.

"Thinking...you know I think too much." A smile tugged the corners of his mouth briefly.

"You're waiting for a fight, aren't you?" she said in a somewhat disheartened tone.

"If I have to." He leaned against her slightly. "That Metal Sonic won't be giving up...and Eggman's probably collecting the emeralds here."

"Amy seems okay with Sonic fighting..." she commented.

"Heh... Hardly." He shrugged.

"But she seems supportive..."

Shadow closed his eyes and felt her warmth. It had been a while since they'd been truly intimate. "She wants to believe he can do anything, that he's invincible…that he'll return to her no matter what."

"Is that so bad?" Sara tenderly slipped her arms around him. He didn't cringe. Her hand drew up to his chest and ruffled the fur, feeling for the wound. She could feel a bump where the scar tissue was and see his expression shift lightly. An ear turned back humbly as she still felt sorry for the whole incident.

"Well...I don't know." He frowned a bit at her. "Are you trying to hurt me?"

She stopped playing with the wound and sighed. "It's my fault you got hurt...I know the time shift isn't your doing but...I don't want you to die..."

"Hey...I'm hard to take down." He finally returned her embrace with a slight smile. "I am the Ultimate."

"Right..." Sara smiled a bit and tilted her head up to him. "Ultimate...how ultimate?" She leaned in for a kiss, their lips meeting softly.

* * *

While the tender scene unfolded, they were not alone. A Mobian-sized female form had been watching since Shadow made his way to the roof. The robot observing them was clad in dark purple ninja-garb, and observed them through a single red horizontal slit on the front of her "face." If there was anything under the metal, it was hard to say. The helmet or face, for lack of a better term, had two upturned spikes, which made her somewhat resemble a cat. She also bore the number 91 on her forehead.

Exiting a zoomed state of vision, the robot slipped from the building she was on to the fire escape Sara had been on minutes before. Thermal vision quickly revealed Blaze's form resting on the sofa-bed. This wasn't in the notes Eggman had given her, and she double checked to make sure this was the residence. Yes, this was where the hedgehogs had come from.

The cat remained asleep while E-91 slipped into the apartment. She looked left and right at the cozy little abode. Her head turned to a door that was slightly ajar and crept over to it, staying low to the ground and moving silently. She looked in to find it was a bedroom; the sheets were down... There was still a slight heat signature where Sara had been, but she wasn't chasing for heat signatures.

It didn't take her long to find the baby's room. The colorful room defied all her logic centers that it should exist in Shadow's homestead. Yet it was there, as was the reported offspring. _'Biological signature match. Objective found.'_

* * *

Shadow had managed to get Sara into a rather compromising pose on the rooftop, taking some pleasure in her half-hearted objections. "Shadow...! Not here...!" He nuzzled and kissed her tenderly, though he was hardly holding her against her will.

"Hmm? You want to go to bed, you can go..." he offered.

Sara lay back against the cold roofing and glanced off at the few stars that shed their light through the city's sky. "Hmmm..." She was beset with another round of kisses and caresses, which sent shivers through her body. "Aaahh... No fair!"

"...Never take your eyes off your enemy." He returned to eye level with her, a mischievous grin on his face. He leaned in and licked her behind the ear.

"Enemy...right." She sounded a little doubtful at that though she tilted her head in his favor. "Ahh...you're so impatient some times..."

"...That's why Maria was probably conceived in the shower." He delighted in the expression his mate wore and the redness of her cheeks. What could have been a rather frisky time on the rooftop ceased abruptly at the sound of Maria's crying. "...Damn it..." Shadow grumbled.

"Ahh..." Sara sighed a bit; why'd he have to get her worked up in such a place? "I wonder if Blaze will check on her…."

"Hey! Stop!" The sound of a rather large flame bursting out into the air sounded after Blaze's voice, and the thought this was a typical baby's crying session quickly slipped from the parents.

Shadow was first to the edge of the building, catching the dark, Mobian-sized speck leap from the building, the sound of a wailing baby trailing off with it. "Shit...! I'm gone!" Shadow didn't even look back at Sara, who had just managed to scramble to the edge.

"Noo!" Blaze had called after the ninja robot, but with only one good leg, she couldn't make it past the fire escape.

Sara was at her side a few moments later. "W-What happened?"

"It snuck in...! I didn't realize until the baby cried... She must be what...what Eggman wanted..." Blaze shook her head in frustration. First Silver, now a baby!

Sara could still see the retreating form as Shadow raced after E-91. As a mother, her mind was quickly made up. "Blaze? Down two floors, room 220, that's Sonic and Amy's place...tell them what's going on," she said as she started descending the building further.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Blaze called after her.

"Isn't it obvious!" She hopped down over the railing of the final story and quickly headed for Shadow's Extreme Gear. He'd let her use it a few times, though this would be her first time opening it up to its full potential. _I'm coming, Maria..._

Shadow went for a homing attack against the bot, only to be repelled by its foot. She wasn't nearly as fast at running as Shadow could be, which was in his and Sara's favor, but her reflexes were top notch. 

"**Give her back!**" Shadow snarled.

E-91 did not comply, of course, and she drew out a chain weapon, which she started twirling as she ran with the infant curled under one arm. "Papaa! Papa!" Maria cried and tried to reach out for him, but the robot wouldn't let go. An idea hit her, an instinct, a reflex, and she stiffened and flared out her quills to their fullest. It didn't work. If she'd been kidnapped by any creature of flesh, he or she would've quickly dropped the pincushion. Instead she found herself crying all the harder as E-91 tightened her grip.

If anything, it made Shadow more determined and enraged. "Bitch!" He dove in for a tackle, twisting his body like a corkscrew. This attack would be easier to manage if she decided to use Maria as a shield or pull some kind of nasty surprise. The surprise was the weapon itself. The nunchuck-like end of it, which had once been a tubular shape, now morphed into a much larger, heavier steel ball. Shadow raised up his arms before him, but the steel ball impacted his chest and sent him flying into a nearby building.

"Shadow!" Sara's voice carried through the night air. The recovering hedgehog's ear trained in the direction, recognizing the hum of the Extreme Gear. She took only a long enough glance at him to make sure he was okay before pursuing the bitch that stole her baby. "Who the hell do you think you are, kidnapping a baby like that!" the wake behind her was more intense than when Shadow used it, as though Tails' beautiful piece of engineering were responding to the hedgehog's rage.

"E-91, Kunoichi," the robot replied, the first time it had responded, really. She deftly jumped over the Gear, which was moments before on a collision course. "Nothing personal, I am following orders." She spun the chain around dangerously as Sara circled around for another pass. She didn't really know why she responded. Maybe it was because she had been addressed directly. Shadow was recovering from the blow and would soon be on her; she had to think fast. There was nothing in her orders saying she couldn't hurt either of the hedgehogs... From the scene she had witnessed before raiding their apartment she also concluded they were "attached." _Around the neck? No...immediate death will bring immediate wrath. Yes.. I see what to do._

_"SARA!"_ Shadow raced toward Kunoichi, but he was too late to stop the swing of her chain, the release of the now spiked ball, which rammed into the side of his Extreme Gear. Expectedly, Sara went flying from its seat. Time had slowed without the use of Chaos Control, like some unavoidable train wreck. The umber hedgehog took a last glance at the robot as he sailed through the air, his ears catching every clinking noise the chains made, and emblazing the visage of the robot into his memory with a murderous intent behind it. The baby's cries had become as some faint echo. Time only resumed its normal flow when Sara was safely in his arms, the bike being thrown into the building a few feet away with a horrible crunching noise.

"NO!" Sara cried, both in fear for her own safety and that of her child.

Adrenaline flowed through the pair as Shadow caught a ledge of the neighboring building. Though he had begun the flight back to where Kunoichi was, a bright light, a flash bomb, lit up the area, and the robot was no more to be seen. 

"Shit!" he growled. "...We'll get her back," he promised Sara, who was trembling in his arms. Pain began to set in as the excitement around them ebbed away. His eyes narrowed at the darkness, which finally overtook the horizon... Eggman would pay for this...


	21. Important Moments

E-91, Kunoichi, entered Eggman's floating fortress and quickly found her rotund master. "Dr. Eggman, I've returned." She paused and glanced to the side a bit; she could see a fine blue-metallic figure as the doctor finished working on him.

"Ahh...Kunoichi! Just in time." Eggman thought he detected a perplexed look in the red slit that passed for optics on her head. "Eh? This is Mecha Sonic 3.0; my duplicate Nega created him."

"I see," E-91 replied. "I was not expecting to see you working on another robot. At any rate, I have brought the objective back." She held out her arms, holding the spiny baby away from her.

"Interesting…." Mecha 3's voice was steady but held mild fascination.

"What's interesting, Mecha?" Eggman sounded a bit irritable. He rather resented Nega and being forced to fix his machination. "Set her on the table, I need to verify something." 

Kunoichi complied, setting her down on a nearby table with a swathe of interesting tools surrounding it. As soon as she'd set Maria down, the hedgehog tried to get up and walk away. She sighed and put the baby back in the center of the table, several times.

"I believe this is a new low for you...kidnapping a baby. My my..." Mecha's tone seamed to tease.

"Hmph," Eggman replied and turned to the hedge-brat. "Can't you keep her still, E-91?"

"I am trying but she is...wiggly," Kunoichi answered. As soon as she restrained the baby by means of pinning her down, the child began to cry. Even though she was a robot, there was something unsettling about it.

"I am curious, Doctor..." 3.0 continued. "Why her?"

Eggman grew increasingly sour at being questioned so much. "Why? She was one of the candidates Nega suggested for the role of 'Element,' was she not?"

"Well, yes," Mecha Sonic 3 replied, also gathering around the baby. Eggman was waving some tools over her, most likely examining her physical status. "Why not any of the others? What made you choose this one?"

"Ohh ho ho...that is a good question." Eggman's tone was a bit dark; coupled with the exceedingly wide grin, it was a disturbing moment. Decoe and Bocoe had been in the same room, wondering at Eggman's tolerance of Mecha's questioning. If either of them had dared question him, threats of becoming a toaster would most likely have followed. "I suppose there's a number of reasons." He brandished a needle and drew a blood sample from the crying child. He frowned a bit at her continued wailing. He'd bribe her with a lollipop or something later.

Metal seemed to take morbid pleasure in the scene before him. "Enlighten me. Why not Sonic? Why not Shadow? Why not Amy? Or Blitz? Or this baby's mother...Sara?"

"Ahh..." Eggman sighed. He thought about it for a minute before replying. "Why not? Heh...with Sonic and Amy mates? Both of them are perfectly healthy, but only apart while at work... That being during daylight hours, I'd rather not cause a scene...and their baby is, in that case, well guarded, automatically eliminating Blitz from the mold. I do believe Amy has the potential to be an Element; she's already displayed some supernatural powers...but she's too close to that infernal hedgehog."

"So that leaves Shadow, Sara, and Maria," Metal 3 urged him to continue.

"Shadow...well...anyone who's checked out YouTube recently knows he was shot... Despite being part alien, he's still recovering from the wound. The target must be healthy. OUCH!" He pulled his hand back from the infant, a couple of quills embedded in his fingertips. "Hnn... As for Sara, my records and research on her have revealed very little. She's an accomplished video game junkie who, aside being able to read maps extraordinarily well, has nothing extraordinary about her. She's just a hedgehog, a completely ordinary female hedgehog."

"...She handled an Extreme Gear Bike very well," Kunoichi spoke up, earning a certain shocked look from Eggman. "But I would say you're right, she is unremarkable."

"Hnn...of course I am." Eggman shrugged. He sighed at the struggling baby. "Hold her 'til she stops fussing!"

"So that leaves the baby. Was there any other motivation?" Mecha 3 queried. He noticed E-91 having a slight hesitance while holding the baby. Was it attached to _it_? He could tell Eggman had selected from his most intelligent robots, analyzing data on her while he observed the pair.

"Ahh...well that goes back to Shadow, then…. Him being injured, and his mate being so normal meant the kid would be the most vulnerable. Easiest target...but more than that. I assume that the trace of alien in her and Shadow's innate powers have been passed onto her in one way or another. Moreover, since she is so young, she has exactly the vitality needed for this." He placed the samples in various tubes and let the computer run its analysis.

"I see." Mecha did his own analysis of the biological life form. "Her brain activity is rather impressive for her age."

"Ehhh?" Eggman was watching similar conclusions fly at the screen before him. "...Yes...but why do you care? I thought you were just here to retrieve an emerald."

"Of course. I'm sorry, Doctor, I won't be wasting any more of your precious time. After all, time is running out…." The robot started to head out, passing close to Kunoichi, who darted backwards, cradling the baby to her in a defensive way. _Interesting..._ "Thank you for the repairs."

* * *

Sonic spent the entire night out searching for any signs of Kunoichi or the baby while Amy organized a search, coordinated with Chance Velocity (Sam's current name) and his unit. Suspecting Eggman was on Mobius, the police had naturally set up a blockade at the monorail, but it was no help. Kunoichi had been subtle and quick and managed to slip through the gate without their knowledge.

It was a rather strained night for all of them, but especially Sara and Shadow. Shadow had wound up back at the MRC again, though not nearly as damaged as one would have thought. Like small Earth animals, some of the harshest falls barely hurt Mobians, while a human would have had numerous broken bones or worse. The impact of the ball was not a direct hit either. Though his chest and arms hurt from the impact, it was mostly muscle tissue which had absorbed the blow... It was actually his back that was bothering him more than anything, where his quills had been standing straight out. A few of them had even bent or were broken by the impact on the building.

Sara blamed herself for the whole thing, starting with leaving Maria alone, to following on Shadow's ruined bike, to being used as bait. Dr. Quack had Shadow released immediately, despite Dr. Garrett's urgings to the contrary. The duck had explained that the wounds were secondary to finding Maria, and he was quite sure he wouldn't be sticking around for treatment even if he needed it. This had nothing to do with instinct; rather, it was just Shadow's personality. The doctor had also counted on Sara's being more in need of comfort than he was bandages; he was right.

The group had moved to the Thorndyke manor to have a central location to work from, but it was more than that. The events were a bit too fresh in their minds, and Amy had already had a hard time getting Sara to cooperate. They'd stopped by the apartment for cell phones and other essential items, and Sara had come out of the room with Maria's favorite Care Bear doll in tow. As a mother herself, she could only imagine what Sara was going through with Maria being kidnapped.

"Shadow...you need to say something to her," Amy urged him. Shadow'd been seated on a comfy couch while Sara paced back and forth nervously a few feet away.

"...What do I say? I already told her we'd get her back." One of Shadow's ears twitched lightly as though he were being bitten by a pack of fleas. He kept his expression even, displaying neither rage nor sorrow. His deep crimson eyes watched Sara, knowing he should comfort her, but feeling unable to do so.

"Rrr...I don't know...hug her or something!" Her ears folded back against her head as Shadow's eyes targeted her. It was hard to say what he was thinking, but the look he sent her gave her chills.

Eventually the gaze was broken and Shadow got up off the sofa. He stopped himself just in front of his mate, his expression softening a bit at her. Eggman would have to pay a heavy toll for disturbing his family, even moreso if one quill was out of place when he got Maria back. Her eyes expressed her deep concerns, and he noted she couldn't maintain eye contact as she tried to fight against tears. The dark hedgehog stretched out an arm and tilted his head to the side.

Sara took up his silent invitation, burying her face in his offered shoulder and letting his arms fold around her. He rarely had need of such an offer to her, let alone in front of the others like Chris and her father, but circumstances what they were, he'd let down his guard for her. She was grateful. She couldn't speak, but let the tears she'd been holding back pour down on his fur until it was matted up.

Chris looked like he was about to say something but thought better of it. He knew he was witnessing something rare, along with the others. Shadow was known for anything but being affectionate, and though he wasn't showering her with pretty promises and I love yous, he may as well have for the increasingly relieved look on Sara's face as her tears faded away. _They really do love each other..._ A thought that crossed his mind and the others present.

* * *

Ella made pancakes the following morning. She'd remained outwardly optimistic and spoke about Sara needing her strength for when the little one got back. "Ahh...growing girl like that, you must be proud."

Sara smiled a little bit. "..Thanks, Ella."

"I'm sure you'll get her back, just look who's supporting you," she said firmly. Though she had motioned to everyone in the room, it was the crimson eyes that had watched her so many times that caught Sara's attention.

"As long as the red emerald is here, Mecha Sonic 3.0 will be too, so I have to go back," Blaze said between bites of her pancake.

"I've already started on a gate generator, it'll be done some time this afternoon," Charles hedgehog spoke up over breakfast. "...But I don't want you going alone."

"I'll go," Sonic spoke up in a heartbeat. "I already owe him a rematch." Sonic grinned widely.

"I'll go too," Amy offered.

"Wha? You guys..." Blaze was a bit embarrassed. "How can you be helping me like this? We've just barely met!"

Sonic shrugged. "Just accept it," Chris suggested cheerfully. "Sonic's never let us down before...besides, there's a lot on the line."

Blaze nodded. "I can lead you to where Nega's hideout is...I just wish this ankle of mine were better..." The lavender feline frowned a bit.

"All the more reason for Amy to go, she can help support you," the hedgehog Charles affirmed again.

"Stopping Eggman Nega isn't enough, though," the wrinkly human scientist put in. "We need to stop the original Eggman as well."

"He's mine," Shadow responded as concern mounted in Sara's eyes.

"...Why can't I go?" she said quietly. Of course Charles made his objections as a father.

"You're not a fighter..." Shadow started. He saw her lip quiver a bit and knew she was on the verge of tears. She only wanted to help, but... He stopped himself from being brutally honest with her inadequacies and the risks involved. "It's my job...I need to do this."

"All intel we have here says that Eggman isn't on Earth," Slick Lightning (Sam yet again) put in, after taking a drink from his coffee cup. The man didn't need any more caffeine. "We're contacting the Mobian authorities, though he's laying low. Word had it he was massing an army..."

"Of course." Shadow shrugged as though this was a common thing. For the mad scientist, it was.

"How do you plan on finding him there?" the human Charles spoke up this time.

"The red emerald. The one that belongs here. We know Eggman has some of the emeralds...he needs all seven." Shadow's tone had become relaxed somehow. He'd been in a lot of fights, a lot of battles; this was just another fight to him. That may have been for the best because his eased tone seemed to soothe the frayed nerves of his partner. 

Chuck Thorndyke nodded. "Now, I can make an emerald radar..."

"No, Eggman will have some way of interrupting the signal...besides, I think this time we'll let him do the collecting for us." He looked thoughtful. "Still…it might be best if I paid a visit to Angel Island."

"Knuckles, huh?" Sonic asked casually.

"Yeah. If Knuckles can't lead me to Eggman, then he'll be coming to me."

"I can arrange for Tails to meet you on the other side of the gate," the light blue hedgehog Chuck offered, to Shadow's nod.

"I'm not going up against him alone," Shadow said calmly, "though I do have a score to settle." A slight grin resembling Sonic's appeared on his face. If he was trying to be cool for Sara's sake, it had worked.

"...Baka... Just come back to me safely, okay?" Sara offered a little smile.

"So! We got a game plan, what are we waiting for?" Sonic beamed.

"Impatient as ever!" Amy said in a partly frustrated tone. She gave him a slight smack with her spoon. Laughter cut through the assembled, something much appreciated after the previous night's events.

"Maria's all right," Shadow said quietly so only Sara could really hear him over the noise. "I'll make sure she stays that way."


	22. Building Moments

AN: Sorry for the late update, I lost internet for a couple days XD Back up now so you can see I've been on a writing streak!

* * *

The World Gate Amplifier Eggman had created to Nega's specs was in the center of a large, open room. The machine at work had six of the seven Chaos Emeralds in it, arranged around a central pillar, much the way the gems were arranged on the Emerald Shrine of Angel Island. In place of the Master Emerald, however, was a type of chair set into the column. It was hooked up to all sorts of circuitry and contained straps for restraining its...occupant. Since Eggman had decided before he finished the machine that Maria would be its driver, the chair was understandably small. Somewhere in the future, a larger version of it was holding a white hedgehog.

There was some kind of knot in the pit of Eggman's stomach as he approached the central pillar. He'd been forced to wear extra durable gloves to handle the shrimpy hedgehog, who writhed wildly in his arms. That didn't bother him so much as her crying and pleas for her parents, which made him feel a certain sense of guilt.

"It's nothing personal really... You just have no idea of how important this is." One could even say he used a "kind" tone toward the victim.

Though the machine hadn't done anything to harm her, at least not yet...she cried even louder as each restraint was put into place. Eggman winced visibly at the desperate cries. "SHUT UP!" He groaned at the high pitched decibels piercing his ears. The baby's cries had even had an effect on the robots. Decoe and Bocoe were both watching the scene apprehensively perhaps, and Kunoichi had ignored orders to recharge, in favor of monitoring the baby's condition. Eggman sighed. "You're quite a brat, you know that?" he said as he turned on the machine, emerald powers starting to flow through the child.

Maria's ruby red eyes filled with a somehow lifeless spark. "Let us go," she said quite clearly, fixing the eerie gemstone eyes on Eggman.

"W-wha?!" Eggman took a startled step backwards. The eyes staring him down were now filled with tears, the little rugrat having gone back to her wails for help. Eggman was unmoved by the tears now, but the look...

A beeping comm system alerted the mad scientist a moment later. "Incoming...it's from the other side of the echo, Doctor," Decoe informed him.

Eggman was relieved to be away from the child. While his back was turned, Kunoichi and Bocoe went over to the child and made efforts to get her to stop crying. Even Bokkun, who'd been floating nearby, joined in, being the most clownish and effective to her. "What is it now?" Eggman finally responded. Whenever he turned back to the group, they were standing perfectly still and pretending they weren't interested in the babe.

"I see you finally acquired the _Element_, but what of the last emerald?" Nega inquired, twisting his gray-white mustache in mirror to Eggman.

"I could ask you the same," the bald human replied acidly. "I had to fix your little toy, you know."

"Hnn... Yes yes...that was a bit of surprise," Nega said, unperturbed. "He just returned a little while ago…empty-handed, unfortunately, but that means the target's back in this time." A grin spread across his face.

"Decided to gloat about things? Tell me I got something wrong?" The original Eggman scowled at his counterpart, regretting ever having made him.

"Oh no no...you chose well. The girl, eh? Metal 3 told me." He chuckled. "Don't worry about a thing, Eggman, together we are going to herald in the Eggman Empire which you have always dreamt of! With Earth and Mobius merged as one, and the future its new parallel, there will be nowhere to run or hide for your adversaries... Ah...but you know the parents will be coming to foil your plans? Our plans?"

"_Your_ plans, Nega. Until the merger, I give you all credit," Eggman retorted. "I've fought Sonic on numerous occasions...true they may not have heralded the results I'd hoped for, but I've been expecting resistance the whole time."

"Ahh...yes, Sonic...but what are you going to do about Shadow?" Nega queried. "I do have a few things that might help..."

"Hmph...Shadow? Ahh I think I can handle him... He's still probably sore from that gunshot wound, not to mention the job Kunoichi did on him last night." Eggman shrugged. "He has a history of recklessness coupled with a loner streak in him, which is sure to get him in trouble when he sees the welcome wagon I've prepared."

"Ahh... For all our sakes, I hope you're right." Nega cut off communications, grinning inside at how little Eggman knew at this point about his foe.

* * *

"Sonic, can you hear me?" Uncle Chuck's voice rang through a wrist communicator he'd given his nephew before going through the gate generator's portal.

"Loud n' clear, Unc!" he replied, holding the device a few inches from his face. He was standing at the top of a step pyramid, though it was hardly ancient. Glowing cables filled with energy clung to the sides of various structures in the area, sparks emitting from one that was broken a few feet away. Whatever it had been powering, the remaining length of cable was dark. It was a bright, sunny day out with a few clouds etched on the sky, and small floating platforms lazily glided along the landscape. Though the apparent stone structures didn't look that complex, he was sure there was a story behind them that would make his head spin. He whistled. "You should see this, Unc, the future's somethin' else!"

"I am seeing it, actually," Chuck said through the communications device. "Amy's headband has been fitted with a digital camera. How are you doing?"

"A-okay here!" Amy said to the comm bracelet on her wrist.

Blaze's eyes surveyed the White Ruins, which she'd been in not more than two days ago. This was where she'd made the bold decision to steal the red emerald away from Nega before he could use it. This was where she'd made her stand. She looked toward the forest where she'd slipped into the aqueducts and sighed. It was a lovely place to behold...a place she and Silver had frequented. A perfect place for him to practice his psychokinesis…and a perfect place for an ambush.

"So, Extreme Gears aren't just air boards or bikes," Amy said, snapping Blaze out of her trance. "That should help while your ankle's healing, right?" She indicated the pink Ex Gears that Blaze had been given.

She nodded. "Yeah, it's a little hard to stand, but as long as I don't twist it again, I should be fine." Blaze's ankle had been put in a splint, but the modified Ex Gears Chuck Thorndyke had made would allow her to move while still on the mend.

Amy nodded again; she was holding onto the Pink Rose, her personal Ex Gear. Tails had had a hand in tuning it up, so she was quite confident she could keep up to Sonic reasonably well. In line with her active role in following Sonic, she had parted with her usual red dress. She wore pink sweats with a white stripe down the sides and a pink and white top that flared out as a small skirt at the bottom. She was ready to aid her lover in combat, and did a mental check to make sure she could materialize the Piko Hammer if needed be. "It's a little hard getting used to the skates, but they should offer you more flexibility than the board or bike, since you can still walk or run with them if they run out of air."

"Appreciated..." Blaze looked a little doubtful. "But what if I run out of air? We don't have Extreme Gears in my time."

"I keep a couple air cells on me." Amy shrugged. "Besides, just catching a nice breeze when you jump with them should keep them powered, they collect air too."

Blaze frowned a bit. Jumping? Not that it wouldn't strain her legs, though the air power would help cushion any blows…she just...didn't like heights. "...Right."

"So!" Sonic turned to the girls after finishing with Uncle Chuck. "Where's the bad guy?"

Blaze couldn't help smiling at his confidence. "Right...well...I was chased here from his base and I was running all morning so..." She looked off to the distance. "Other side of Misty Mountain." She pointed. "We can make it by nightfall if we hurry."

"Gotcha! Let's roll!" Sonic nodded and started the mad sprint to the goal, though he held back so the girls could keep up.

* * *

Mobius wasn't as sunny as the future at the moment. It was dark and rainy, the kind of gloomy scene Shadow coped with, but no longer existed in. His fur was getting soaked as the biplane flew him to Angel Island.

"Sorry about this! If Eggman's bots hadn't raided my hangar a few days ago we could've taken the X-Tornado," the two-tailed fox who piloted the machine called to his passenger.

A gigantic land mass was coming into view through the haze of rain glazing everything. As they got closer, he could make out the island's only unnatural feature: Echidnopolis. Mobius seemed to have a tendency for dimensional instability, and the remnants of Knuckles' people had been locked away in a pocket dimension until about two years ago when the city was returned to Mobius Proper. Shadow had only visited the island when he needed to and was unfamiliar with the city, though the fact it was almost exclusively populated with echidnas showed how isolationistic they tended to be. Indeed, it was rare to find an echidna outside this city, or the small clan of nomads who'd been left behind when Angel Island originally took flight. As they made the final approach, the rain died away, though the overcast stayed.

Knuckles didn't meet them at the Echidnopolis Airport. Instead, he was to be found in his most common haunt, the Emerald Shrine. "What kept you?" the monotreme asked while munching on a string of grapes. He hadn't changed much since the last time they'd seen him, though he was wearing a hat given to him by one of the island's previous guardians. The hat was an outback-style hat, bent up on one side, and sported metal stars stuck in the blue trim on it. It was light tan and matched the color vest he wore, which had frayed edges to it.

"Bad weather," Shadow said humorlessly.

Knuckles gave him an odd look. "Eh? That's all you can say? What about 'OH! How did you know we were coming?' or 'The emerald tell you we were on our way?'" The guardian hadn't been known for keeping in communication with others, and raising him for any event usually proved a challenge, as Sonic had to manually deliver the invitation to Shadow's party not too long ago.

Shadow was about to say something when Tails snapped his fingers together. "OH! That's right! How are you getting used to the new cell phone? I entered everyone's cell phone numbers for you since you're technologically impaired."

Knuckles' face turned as red as the rest of his body. "Oi...you're not supposed to spoil the mystery…." Knuckles frowned. A ringing noise came from his vest pocket. "Hold on..." He picked up the phone and glanced at it a minute.

"It's the green button on the left..." Tails said, tilting his forefinger just so.

"Right! I knew that..." Knuckles replied and hit the Yes button. "Hello? ...Julie? Yeah...I don't know, it's kind of important. Y-yeah…." There was a pause as he listened to Julie-su berating over something. "NO! You're not coming, okay? It's going to be dangerous and...!" He held the phone away from his head, not liking the indiscernible yelling coming out of the earpiece. "...You gotta watch the Master Emerald for me, okay? I won't be gone too long, then we can have that dinner." He didn't wait for a reply and clapped the cell phone shut. "Sorry about that."

"In a hurry?" Shadow asked in his most passive tone. He wanted to hurry too. He sensed the woman on the other end of the line was attached to Knuckles, and he was sure he'd heard the name before. He wondered what kind of woman she was if he was entrusting the Master Emerald to her care, and assumed she had to be "above average" like Amy was to Sonic. He actually felt relieved Sara wouldn't be following him into battle; the partnership might have been nice on the one hand, but any failure would directly affect the other.

"Well...sort of." Knuckles shrugged.

"How is Julie-su?" Tails asked in a more interested tone.

"Good, a bit upset. This is the anniversary of our first dinner date." He grinned a bit at the memory. While it could still be said women were his weakness, he'd become bolder around Julie-su since he'd seen Sonic and Shadow settle down before him; he was a year older than Sonic. "Won't matter if everything comes to an end, though." The smile faded from his face just as quickly. Before Shadow came along, he was the emo of the group, and the black and red hedgehog made him look positively cheerful.

"Then..." Shadow started, though he let Knuckles finish.

"Ahh...yeah, why you've come." He turned to the Master Emerald and held a hand up to it. Green light swirled around his hand and a faint vision twinkled in it briefly, the image of Tikal, followed by the image of her father Pachamac, followed by Chaos 0, Sonic, and Shadow. Another vision of a hedgehog none of them recognized flashed in the sparks of chaos energy, though the infant it showed briefly was Maria.

Shadow's heart raced when he saw that. "Maria!"

"Ahh... The emerald's been talkative lately," Knuckles finished. "It's usually quiet, but it keeps sending me images…."

"What do you mean the emerald's been talking?" Tails inquired curiously.

"I call it 'Inherent Will.'" Knuckles said in his most dramatic voice.

"Cut the crap, what does it mean, and where's Maria?" Shadow stated more than asked. His even and unemotional statements sent chills through the echidna's spine; didn't this guy have feelings?

"Ahh... Well it means that the emeralds pick up on the will of their users..." He glanced to the emerald and then back to them, his deep purple eyes a bit more reflective than usual. "The emeralds are not as neutral as we thought...like Chaos, they kind of feed on emotion...so they prefer a strong will. When a robot uses them, there's no will, good or bad."

"So who's inherent will is that showing?" Shadow pointed to the Master Emerald.

"Ahh...I don't know, even I can't get information that directly. I can see where they are, though. Six of them are in a very open room full of machines... Odd thing is I see two different versions of Eggman, and two different people were at the center of the machine…." Knuckles puzzled at that.

"We know. You're looking at the Chaos Emerald in two different time periods," Shadow informed him. "Now we need to find the ones in this time…."

Knuckles nodded. "Right...well then..."


	23. More Interesting News

While Grandpa Chuck's lab was an epicenter of communication and organized chaos, the rest of the Thorndyke mansion was strangely quiet. For the rest of the world, very few people knew that the few Mobians who'd just left would determine the fate of both worlds. Most of the tension for this epic event, however, was to be found in one of the guest rooms.

Chris Thorndyke, having nothing to do but wait, decided to check on the only remaining guests, Sara and Blitz. As she'd been forced to stay behind, she'd logically been chosen to care for her cousin's infant son. The deep purple hedgehog with glittering green eyes seemed oblivious to the distress painted on his caretaker's face. Chris, however, knew the sad and helpless look Sara carried in her immersive brown eyes.

"Hey..." the human boy said in a soft tone, approaching the bed Sara was seated on. She said nothing as he took a seat next to her. "Umm..." He tried to think of something to say and focused on the babe she cradled in her arms. "He's getting big, isn't he?"

"...Yeah…." She stroked his quills lightly, giving attention to him as she often did to Maria.

Chris attempted a smile. "Amazing, isn't it? I didn't know you guys started out so small…." Sara gave a depressed sigh and his smile faded a bit. His tone turned a bit more serious, "It's going to be all right, Sara. I know it's already been said, but you should really be confident, you know? Shadow would want your support, right?"

Sara thought about it a minute and her hand froze as she finished smoothing out a loose quill. "I do...it's just...different from when I was on Mobius."

"Oh?" Chris hadn't heard her talk much about her past there. "I heard it's a really pretty place...Knothole, right? Sonic said he had friends there."

She nodded. "We all did. Well, not Shadow since he was born here, but..." An ear twitched lightly. "When Eggman would attack us, it was always Sonic who went to the front lines. We depended on him and supported him and...no matter how bad it got, it was okay because he came back." There was a long pause as she gathered her thoughts. "It never dawned on me that he might not come back, he has that kind of attitude...you just believe whatever he says."

Chris nodded, "I never doubted him when Eggman came here. He's always come back; don't you think Shadow will too? I don't know much about him, but he has that kind of spirit too."

"...I'm not so sure." She lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "After all of Eggman's attacks...Sonic just wouldn't quit, but..." she glanced over to the human who was hanging on her every word, "we weren't that close. I worried a lot more when Duo would get in on a fight...and he didn't come back 'til recently."

"Hey...come on, Sonic and the others have saved the world before, what makes this so different?" Chris queried, leaning back on his elbows.

"I don't know...I think I just realized how Sally felt..." She fished around for words to say. "She and Sonic were really close and she'd worry about him, even though she could fight. She has this...brilliant mind and was actually part of the plans, but she still worried..." She sighed. "Well, I'm like that...and I haven't had much of a chance to see Shadow return time and time again... Amy doesn't have to worry so much about Sonic, though, or fighting...she can defend herself, I can't. It's different...because I love Shadow so much, I don't want to lose him!" Her quills trembled slightly as she spoke.

"I know how you feel," Chris offered gently, her eyes shifting to him. "All the times I was in trouble and Sonic came to my rescue...I couldn't do anything. I kept thinking it was my fault or something, always being in danger." He smiled a bit, though. "But I guess it proved we were friends, though. It's hard to tell with someone like him who comes and goes like the wind if he's really paying attention." He laughed a bit, fixing his gaze on the baby. "I think that's why Amy was always so mad at him for running away."

"...And Shadow?" Sara seemed a little bit more at ease, scratching Blitz behind the ears.

"Ahh, you don't have to worry about him." He smiled confidently. "He's already come back to you once, right? He looks a bit uncomfortable around others, but not you. He's definitely coming back."

Sara smiled. "Thanks…."

Chris nodded. "I mean it, though. You make him smile, and he's doing his best for you...I'm doing my best too." He caught her confused look. "Well...I'm like you…. There's not really anything I can do...I can't fight or run machines, heck, I only just got my temp driver's license...but I figured I could help somehow."

"...How?" Sara sat up, shifting the baby in her arms.

"Looking out for you." He gave a smile that really matched his uncle Sam's. "And Blitz." He reached his hand for the baby and gave his exposed soft belly a light tickling, causing fits of laughter from the baby.

A smile spread across Sara's lips. "Now I see why Sonic likes you, you're so hopeful." She handed the wriggling baby to the human, momentarily forgetting the stress she'd been under. "When Shadow gets back, we're going to start hanging around more..."

"Oh?" Chris never minded guests, especially his Mobian friends.

Sara nodded. "Yeah, I think he needs to get to know people like you. I can't be the only one who makes him smile, right?" A peaceful smile came over the two as a stronger friendship was forged.

"Yeah. I'd like that," Chris returned.

* * *

The weather was only slightly more favorable as Tails' biplane headed for Needle Canyon, a wide open space with spire-like rock formations framing it. It was out in the middle of nowhere even by Mobian standards; a perfect place to conceal an army. At least there was no lightning; the young vulpine still had a problem with that.

"Sorry about this!" he called to his passengers. "Without a Chaos Emerald, the X-Tornado just won't run!"

"Ahh! Don't worry about it!" Knuckles replied, though he'd been given the passenger's seat instead of Shadow.

The darkened hedgehog had taken up Sonic's usual place on top of the wings. It rather suited him, as he felt the wind whip through his quills and the rain lash at him. His body wasn't near ready to quit, and it just helped prepare him for the task at hand.

"Oi! Shadow! You all right up there?" Knuckles called after he gave Tails no reply.

"Yes!" he said loud enough that the two could hear him. It was funny, returning to battle; he'd forgotten about any bruised flesh or cracked ribs, and it was even kind of invigorating. _Maybe it's being here that's done it..._ He glanced around the Mobian landscape, what of it he could see. It was the home world of the Chaos Emeralds after all, and the whole place had a feel to it that just didn't compare to Earth. The emeralds must have made the link between the two planets in the past; how else could he have been so truly Mobian?

"Hey, guys! There's something else I have to tell you!" Tails piped up, "It's just...Eggman might not be our enemy!"

"What?!" Knuckles snapped. "All the times he's tricked me? The fact he's massing an army? And he's _not_ our enemy? Tails...!"

The two-tailed fox continued undaunted, "I know! But I mean...the more emeralds he's collected, the more stable the dimensional shift has been. At this rate, Mobius and Earth really could merge safely!"

"So we leave the machines alone, that what you're saying?" Shadow's calm tone was almost lost to wind and rain.

"Yeah! Does us no good to beat Eggman and have the world destroyed," Tails replied. His sensors were starting to detect Eggman's floating armada; that would be his first real combat test with the retooled aircraft. Of course, he constantly tinkered with his machines even after they were "complete."

"Does Sonic know that where he's headed?" Shadow's tone was less than trusting.

"Yeah! He should...Uncle Chuck set up communications before we left," Tails said, warning lights starting to blink in front of him. "Hang on!" Afterburners on the biplane sprang to life, the vehicle speeding ahead at a doubled pace. Though it had jostled Knuckles into a heightened state of alertness, it did nothing to Shadow, who merely braced himself for evasive maneuvers.

* * *

The future's path was a bright one as Sonic blazed through the forest followed by his two female companions. Despite the brisk pace, it was relaxed for him. He stole a glance back at Amy to his left; he could run backwards a while and stare, but he knew she'd scold him for not taking things seriously. Of course he seriously enjoyed seeing her wear something other than a red dress, and the V-neck on her shirt amplified her bosom in a favorable way. She was practicing a few flips and twirls on the board, which Sonic was mildly impressed with. "Still got it?" he called back to her.

"Of course!" Amy glanced to Blaze, who was understandably having a more difficult time. She'd never been on an Extreme Gear, aside the brief bike ride with Shadow, and adjusting to skating from her usual runs was difficult to say the least.

"I...I'm getting the hang of it I think...!" Blaze fretted; she was worried about Silver. He'd been her friend and aid in a world where the skills of the psychokinetic far outnumbered a pyrokinetic like herself. It was probably her bloodline that had demanded any amount of respect, but it came with few real friends. She just knew she couldn't afford to lose him. She looked up, and Sonic was no longer running ahead of her. "Wha?!"

Sonic's hands were suddenly holding the cat's sides in a steadying fashion, "You're thinking about it too much! Just let it flow," he encouraged.

"Ahh... Thanks, I think…." Blaze stumbled a bit, however.

Sonic sighed, "Come on! Sorry it has to be a crash course, but you can do it!" Sonic smiled. Amy was rolling her eyes and giving her mate a slightly acidic look. He made a face back at her, which Blaze didn't catch. "How's your ankle?"

"...Fine, patched well enough for this…." Blaze was released by the blue hedgehog and glided along at a still somewhat unsteady pace.

Amy flew in close to the lavender cat. "Don't listen to him, he's a horrible teacher!" She sighed as Sonic sprinted ahead, bounding off trees and lush foliage. "It's like dancing, you just have to get into a good rhythm." She did a 360 on the Pink Rose as a demonstration.

"You aren't afraid of heights?" Blaze mustered her courage and used a wide tree trunk as a launching pad. The air gauge on her Ex Gears rose slightly.

"No," Amy replied simply, finally grasping that the Ex Gear itself might not be her problem. "Look straight ahead! Don't think about where your feet are, okay? Just trust every step," Amy encouraged, wheeling about on her gear in a much more flashy way. She raced ahead of the feline, hoping she would follow.

It worked. Blaze swallowed her fears and followed the pink hedgehog in her path. Jumping, flying, wheeling, she copied her teacher's steps, always with her eyes ahead. A kind of rush surged through her at the feeling of flight she experienced with every trick she pulled with the gears. Maybe when this was all over, she'd have to bring them back, though most psychokinetics had no need of such things.

"Good goin', Blaze!" Sonic smiled as he caught up to the girls.

"Sonic! Where did you run off to?" Amy scolded.

"Ahh...just watching you two." His smile broadened. His eyes caught a flash in the distance and the smile shrank back a bit. "I think we have company...look sharp!"

Amy and Blaze tensed as they caught the slight glint of metal as well. "Mecha 3..." Blaze said in a hushed tone.

_Okay, where are you?_ Sonic's eyes shifted over the scenery, which was blurred to a normal eye traveling at his speeds. Branches, dirt, and stone were trampled under his feet, which barely seemed to touch the ground. His senses were on high alert, and being the one to carry the future's red emerald, he had to be.

"AAAHHH!" Amy's scream came from behind him. As he made his quick U-turn he was forced to duck under the flying Ex Eear she'd been riding moments before.

"Hang on!" Sonic shouted, though his eyes quickly caught hold of Metal 3, whose long metal fingers curled around her delicate neck. His quills bristled at the sight of her flesh and bloody fingers trying to pry his cold metal fingers away in desperation. Eggman's robots weren't known for using ploys like this unless instructed to, but this was Nega he was dealing with, and it just dawned on him he might be playing with a crueler set of rules.

"Stay back," Metal ordered, fixing his red glowing optics on the speedy blue one. He and Amy were still in motion until her quills wedged painfully up against a thick tree and he held her there. She couldn't let go or risk choking to death, a grim game indeed. His sensors detected her heart beat, her biorhythms every bit as much as Sonic and the glowing gemstone in his quills. "So we have a reason to fight after all. This time, though, I am allowed to kill you," he said in a dispassionate tone as Sonic came to a halt at his words.

"Let go of Amy!" Sonic said in his bravest and most demanding tone. The fear etched in his vitals did not impress the metal assailant, who seemed to be enjoying himself. His body tensed as he searched for a way to release her before Metal could do any harm, but he was coming up blank.

"Amy? Yes. That is this one's name, isn't it? What is a name, though? Your classifications are the same…. Both hedgehogs, both flesh, both weak." His hand pressed more firmly against her windpipe, causing the female hedgehog to gasp for breath. "And you're angry undoubtedly."

Sonic growled in contempt. "Damn straight…. Now **let her go!**"

"Hmmm...I don't know." Metal's tone held a bit of curiosity to it. "Nega said I could play with you." There was a delicious amount of malice in his mechanical tones, something wholly unwholesome. "I could ask you for the emerald in exchange for her life, but then we wouldn't be able to play, would we? I would lose all purpose for our fight. That is the objective after all. Then again, I am allowed my own prerogatives, so it doesn't matter when I take the emerald from you. Over your dead body would be more enjoyable I think..."

Sonic made a movement toward the robot, met with a pained squeal from Amy. "Not so fast," Metal continued casually; one of his knifelike fingertips was piercing Amy's abdomen just enough to draw blood. "I said I wanted to play. I think I need to beat you at full power, so I need to make you angry." He hadn't moved, but Sonic knew the blade had just dug deeper into her flesh. "I suppose if I play with her enough, one of two things will happen...I'll anger you enough to act, or I will break your spirit before I snap your neck like a twig."

"I'll give you the damn emerald! Just let her go!" Sonic growled. A slight breeze whipped by the pair as he spoke in anger.

"Sonic...don't!" She coughed. "I...I'll be fine!" If only she could focus enough, the hammer of legend she summoned from nothing could appear. It was her only hope to escape, she felt, but to let go meant a grave risk if she failed.

"Oh, it's not you I'm trying to kill..." his tone became quite sinister. "I wonder if he even knows about the small collection of cells in your uterus?" he said, addressing Amy.

Sonic's eyes shot wide as tears formed in Amy's eyes. He had no idea she was... "**BACK OFF, YOU MONSTER!!**" Blaze's tone interrupted as a fiery tornado slammed into the robot's side. Since Mecha 3 had turned to Sonic, his advanced sensors gave no warning of the oncoming whirlwind.

"Amy!" Sonic quickly went to grab the precious pink bundle that slipped from the tree now that nothing supported her, relieved of the crushing grip around her neck. "Oh Amy…." He held her tight as Blaze engaged his metal counterpart in combat.

"I'm sorry...I knew you wouldn't let me come if you knew I was..." Amy trailed off.

"Go get your board, we have a monster to take care of first. We'll talk later." Sonic's green eyes glinted fiercely as he let her down on the ground gently. "Heh...afraid of heights my ass." He glanced overhead as the two combatants flew higher under the fiery siege. Blaze's hands were on fire, an inferno which carried her skyward swiftly at the metal abomination. Sonic's hand reached back to his quills, drawing from it the crimson gemstone he carried. In a strangely calm way the shout went out, "_**Chaos...CONTROL!**_"


	24. Action Moments

Tails had proved himself a master of flight as he fought against rain, wind, and Eggman's floating armada. Ground to air missiles and turrets also tormented the little biplane, Knuckles and Shadow having fought off the physical projectiles while the vulpine pilot swerved around the laser blasts. Guns blazed and weapons of his own design targeted and fired in succession as the aerial display continued.

Words didn't need to be said as the group advanced on the Egg Fort 3. That was the center of the storm, the horde of planes and floating craft swirling around it like an angry hornet's nest. Some of the crafts launched smaller ships at them, but no matter how many missiles were returned or ships came down, there seemed no end to the barrage.

"We're not getting anywhere!" Knuckles said in an angry tone as his fist turned a missile aside into a ship that had moments before targeted them. It went down in a ball of flames and smoke seconds later.

"I can't get closer like this!" Tails replied as he swerved aside to avoid a stray missile. He fell down and cut power, falling behind a fighter-jet like bird robot that he then took out with a homing laser. The power was restored and he sped ahead, picking up the black missile that had just bounded off another such robot.

Shadow surveyed the surroundings while Knuckles continued to mindlessly bash projectiles. Occasionally he would leap into the air and swing one jet into another. "There's enough junk here to jump across," Shadow commented. He snapped his fingers and time froze, a missile just inches from his muzzle. He turned it around and spent a few minutes inflicting damage on neighboring robots before returning to the Winged Victory. A cacophony of explosions greeted his ears as time resumed its normal course.

Knuckles' jaw just hung open as he tried to figure out how much this hedgehog was capable of. "Ehh? You wanna try going on alone?" Tails shouted up to him, the boy breaking into a barrel roll, dodging another set of lasers that then overshot their marks and several of which hit their own ships.

"That's the idea," Shadow returned, hanging onto the wings with one hand while he was in a kneeling position for the sudden roll out.

Knuckles lost his grip but was able to glide until he caught the plane's tail. "You're nuts!" the echidna called after him. Shadow hadn't waited any longer, and as soon as the plane had righted itself, he was using homing attacks to bring himself closer to missiles and floating robots, jumping across debris and even the bridges of enemy ships. The trail of destruction was impressive. "Hey, Tails? How long can you keep this up?" Knuckles inquired, managing to make his way to the plane's wings again.

Tails pulled a pair of goggles down over his eyes, meaning he was taking things more seriously now that one of his allies had left. "I don't know. An hour? Maybe two if it keeps like this. But with so many forces against us, I can't keep it up indefinitely!"

A ground to air missile shot up in front of the pair as Knuckles was about to jump off the plane. A second sooner and he would have been dust. "Waaahhh!" But his eyes went wide as the missile hit one of the large battle cruisers of Eggman's fleet. The whale-like carrier with "fins" guiding it began an elegant swan-dive to the ground below.

"Sorry about that!" a gruff voice called through Tails' headset.

"Vector?" Tails replied to the voice, drawing the plane to a sharp left and spiraling down closer to the ground.

"Yeah! Thought we'd let you leave alone?" Vec's voice called back; he'd taken over one of Eggman's turrets seated on the side of one of the natural spires of Needle Canyon.

"Sally said you'd need backup, glad we came?" a hyper voice called, and a set of lasers dispatched some of the smaller pursuit robots tailing them.

"Charmy?!" Tails surprise grew but in a pleasant way.

"Hey? What's going on?" Knuckles asked, as he couldn't hear the communications going on in Tails' headset. The fox offered him an extra set, which he quickly put on.

"KNUCKLES! My man! Long time no see, bro!" a voice deafened the echidna almost immediately.

"V-Vec?! Where the hell did you guys come from?" Knuckles replied into a mouthpiece.

A ninja star breezed by his face, missing him by inches, but embedding itself into the power source of a flying robot resembling a dragon. It gave a mechanical hiss and exploded moments later, showering him with the tiniest bits of debris.

"Boo." A purple chameleon appeared fully next to Knuckles. "Don't you have a black hedgehog to support?"

Knuckles regained his composure and a toothy grin appeared on his face. "Right! Tails? Looks like you got backup now. Stay alive, guys!" he called as he leapt off the plane, going into a swift forward glide. His fists slammed into the side of a carrier robot, which he quickly scrambled up the side of. He made his way to its control center, bashing away both turrets mounted on its front and then ripping his fist into the main circuitry. He then bounded off of it and took flight again.

"I'll be following you in, with a little luck, I'll be about a half hour," Tails called in a more confident tone over the comm system. The Chaotix weren't the only ones to the fight, as Knothole's ground troops took the numerous tanks and turrets that had previously given his flight path a problem. Even Duo had joined the fight under Sally's orders, not that any of them would have cared.

* * *

This time, the mechanical creation didn't echo Sonic's command for Chaos Control…something he was very grateful for. Nega must have relieved him of the silver emerald after his failure. Not that it mattered; he had every reason to beat the tar out of him now. Even touching Amy was a criminal act, especially since he'd just been given the news she was pregnant again.

Sonic knew very well how tough his opponent was, so even with time suspended, it would take everything he had to dent the monstrosity. Whatever Nega made him from, he was glad Eggman hadn't made the original Metal Sonic so durable. And using his image? Feh...

Sonic unleashed a barrage of attacks on the frozen enemy, unsure if any effect would be registered after the hits had been landed, but his hand ran through his quills quickly, drawing a small device from it and attaching it to the metal faker's back. His last attack, he planted his feet firmly on its face and sprang off of him, grabbing Blaze as he shot downward and twisted to a safe landing with her in his arms as the Chaos Control's time ran out.

Amy had reached her board when Sonic put a halt to time, and now that it had resumed, she snapped her head back to it, hearing a loud snapping noise that actually consisted of a series of blows he'd inflicted on the enemy. The robot's body convulsed in the air before being sent flying backward. The device on its back, a micro bomb, exploded seconds later, launching him skyward. Amy was awestruck.

"Hey! What're you doing? Daydreaming? He's not down yet!" Sonic called; he pushed Blaze ahead of him, forcing her to get a handle on her skating quick.

"Right!" Blaze was on guard; she'd no idea Nega could be so cruel, or was this just the robot's will?

Amy didn't need any coaxing as she tossed the Pink Rose ahead of her and jumped on it. The wound wasn't that big, she thought. She held her right hand out and envisioned the Piko Piko Hammer in it. Instantly the hammer appeared in hand as she wheeled around toward Metal Sonic 3.0. "How dare you look like _my _Sonic?!" she shouted and headed for the dented robot. This time she knew he was there; there would be no surprises. A loud crack signaled the hit's success as Mecha 3 was thrown back into the air.

"Good job!" Sonic called, going into a corkscrew type of attack, slamming the metal creature through a nearby tree and into a stone structure jutting from the landscape.

The three-minute melee seemed like an eternity to the combatants. Mecha Sonic's durability was not underestimated by Sonic, as he commanded the girls to fall back or rush in at prescribed times. As the leader and the one with the emerald, he took his rightful place as the main target. With all three of them coming at him at once, it was hard for even the robot to keep on top of things.

He'd produced a translucent shield several times, deflecting fire blasts from blaze and even the physical blows of Amy's hammer. His sensors told him it wasn't there, but his optics said it was. "Intriguing, really superb. Master will be pleased, but I should really retrieve the emerald," Mecha hissed. He was growing tired of this struggle, but his master had been right...they were unique. As Amy's rage grew, the manifested hammer's strength and density seemed to grow. It had to be some sort of psychic power, the mechanics of which he was sure she had no awareness of. Condensed energy compacted into a physical form, how interesting.

Every time he shifted his focus to Amy, Sonic's spin dash or homing attack intercepted. It noticed the hedgehog's increased guard of the precious pink hedgehog. He did not envy either of them. Flesh was weak, a basic truism burned into his core. And yet, they were endlessly fascinating to observe. As each blow landed and his structural integrity weakened, he felt a sense of pleasure grow. "Even if I fail..." Mecha said as he fended off an attack from Sonic and his hand was burned afterward by Blaze, "you've made me happy." He grabbed Amy's hammer arm with his burning hand causing a shriek from her.

"Bastard!" Sonic's foot slammed into the side of Mecha's head and he quickly went to check on his mate.

"Happy?! How sadistic do you have to be to happy with this?!" Blaze's rage exploded, and she came at him with a series of jabs and kicks, primarily with her good leg, fueled by burning fire, pushing him farther and farther back.

Mecha 3 tried to engage his afterburners but fuel was low and the units were damaged. "It's just that...Nega said I am a copy of a copy who has no chance of being useful. Yet, as I observe you, I learn." His metal legs planted on the ground, though Blaze's berserker attack continued to push her forward. "I think I have emotions now, like you. And Master will be pleased with all the data I've sent him... You'll deliver the emerald, right?"

Blaze's eyes were wide at the statement. "You're...you're nothing like _us_! ..." With a final crack of pyrokinetic energy, an explosion launched the robot off the edge. Splinters of metal flew every which way and the robot's core temperature grew to a phenomenal rate...as it exploded. Blaze knelt at the cliff edge and caught her breath, her stomach twisting from the sickening height they were at.

"Thanks." Sonic put a hand on her shoulder seconds later.

Blaze smiled a bit, then frowned as she observed the sparking ignited fuel touch the canopy. "Oh no! The forest is burning!"

Sonic frowned. "Let's go! We gotta get ahead of that fire quick!"

* * *

Shadow broke into Eggman's floating carrier easily enough after leaving Tails behind. His drive now was to reach Maria, and only Tails' warning told him not to damage the place too much. Too bad Eggman hadn't told his robots as much. For the most part, the Eggman-like egg-robos fell to the ground in piles of scrap as he made his way through the complex, offering little resistance.

Emergency sirens blared as he tore through corridors, narrowly avoiding certain closing doors, and having to take out the latches on others. "Great...another bunch of turds," he said dryly as he came upon a large open room crawling with small beetle-like robots. They weren't fast, but they were well armored, and the electric shocks from their shoulders could definitely sting. He could only hit them moments before they fired the short range bursts, so taking on a room full of them made him frown.

"Aren't you tired yet?" Eggman's voice came over the communications system.

"Not a chance, fat boy." In a flurry of linked light attacks, a continuous single streak of red and black tore through the metal bodies of each and every Beetlegg. Shadow's form had landed and looped and blasted through unit after unit after unit, even as more fell from the ceiling. Each one that exposed its weapon fell to the ground in a shower of parts until he was standing on a pile of rubble. "Now where's Maria?!"

"Eeeh…. Come and get her!" Eggman replied. Two doors opened up at opposite ends of the room. "Heh heh! Choose wisely, Shadow...one way leads to your daughter, the other--HEY! You're not supposed to leave when I'm gloating!" he yelled as Shadow hadn't even waited for him to finish before sprinting through the left-hand door.

* * *

"Oi...what a mess." Knuckles held onto his hat as he looked left and right on the bridge of the Egg Fort. Most of the turrets had been destroyed. Most of them, at least. His fist smacked into a gun barrel coming out of the wall by the door, which had been forced open earlier by a sonic-type spin.

The echidna scratched his head and removed his hat, flipping off a few raindrops. "Hey, Tails? Got anything on this bucket of bolts for me?" he said into his headset.

"Yeah, I hacked a map of it a few minutes ago, caught up with Shadow yet?" he replied from the plane. With the Chaotix directly aiding him, the skies were starting to thin out and he was having to focus less on his flying. It was a good thing too, as the energy stores for the lasers and supply of missiles were swiftly running out. Still, the little genius had a few tricks up his nonexistent sleeves.

"No, but I can follow his trail of destruction. Usually I head to the core and blow it up, but not this time, right?" Knuckles idly strolled into the structure, stepping over the remains of a few robots.

"Yeah. Make sure Eggman doesn't escape, though, I may need him to help set things right."

Knuckles nodded, not realizing that wouldn't carry through the headset. "Ahh finally." He grinned and raced for an armored robot with a spear, and the few smaller robots with spiked balls orbiting them. His fists went through the reinforcements who'd failed to get there in time to stop his friend from plowing through. They fell apart at the seams as he dusted off his mitts. "Good, I was worried for a minute I wouldn't have anything to do."

"Ha... Hardly, okay ETA now fifteen minutes. If you could take down the computer-guided defenses, though, I'd be grateful," Tails spoke up.

"Uhh okay...and that's where?" Knuckles queried. Just ahead of him a door suddenly slid open and he found himself face to face with a giant metal robot with an equally sized mace looking at him with beady red eyes. "...Crap."

"I-Intruder?!" it asked as if it hadn't heard the blaring sirens.

"Hey, Mack...we got a live one here?" a thinner, faster robot with boxing gloves at his side called. It made a few punching motions.

"Oioioi... Don't do that, Joe!" It brought its mace down on its buddy, somehow causing it a lump on its shiny dome. They were patterned after the same kind of design as Decoe and Bocoe, but supposedly built for combat.

"Never mind, I think I'm about to find out," Knuckles said idly as he backed up into a fighting stance. "Hey! You boys wanna play? If I win, you take me to the defense center, okay?"

The two bots looked at each other, then laughed. "Deal!"


	25. Distressing Moments

Even though the Misty Mountain lived up to its name, it was easy to spot Nega's complex in the Valley. Crackling fires left behind them, the group stood at the last leg of their journey. "So...Nega got any more bots like that?" Sonic asked in a soft but serious voice. He couldn't see much of anything in the mists that permeated the area, only a stream of colored light shooting up from the center of Nega's complex, which breached the top of the misty bowl.

"Not that I know of..." Blaze sighed, "but he's been working on an army…no telling how many robots are down there." She motioned to a few scout units that just barely moved in the fog. They looked like no more than gray dots in a milky soup, but after being chased by them, she knew better.

"So how do we get in?" Ready as Amy was for a fight, she saw the look in Sonic's eyes. It had changed the moment he found out there was a new life in her. After they'd left the inferno behind, Blaze had helped her patch the wound, which was mercifully shallow, but the blood stain on her dress was still a concern.

"I'll show you." Blaze led them over to a cropping of ruins where a deep basin was that once held a great fire. One of the few places her talents were of any worth in her mind, she set the altar ablaze, and the stone rolled back, revealing a passageway. "Misty Palace wasn't always like that."

"Ancient Chinese secret, eh?" Sonic joked. At least he still had a sense of humor, even if it was a bad one.

"Sonic!" Amy made a face at him while Blaze just looked confused. "Don't mind him... How'd you know about this?"

"Well…." Blaze led them down the stairs, using her fire once again to illuminate their way. "I kind of...well...ruled from here."

"Ueeeh!? You're royalty!?" Amy squeaked.

"Yeah," Blaze said modestly.

Amy studied the cat's poise and outfit as they walked. She was wearing more clothing than most Mobians she knew. Out in Knothole, which was a small town, they wore less, such as Sally's simply wearing a vest. That had begun to change as the city got larger, but still, these weren't cheap Wally-World duds. The pants she had were silk, the tailored shirt lovingly embroidered fine fabric. The way she carried herself, so straight and proud, was more than simple feline behavior. "You really are royalty, aren't you?! Wow! I'm so sorry we didn't know, Your Highness!"

"Hey! Chill out, will ya? You know Sally well enough, I bet she doesn't like titles either!" Sonic barked back at her.

Blaze blushed a bit. "I'm just doing what I have to for my people..." she said softly.

"And Silver," Sonic added firmly to a relaxed smile from the cat.

* * *

"You big meanie!" Bigga Mack whined, having been literally disarmed by Knuckles.

"Oi, you lost fair and square, so shut up." Knuckles shrugged, following the two beaten up robots.

Minor Joe was also sporting bruise-like bumps all over his metal frame, to the point it was hard to see his eyes. The pair of them were sulking as they walked. "Man, why'd we have to make a deal with him?" the skinny robot complained.

"Well, if you'd like me to finish you guys off, I could." Knuckles shrugged. "Tails can guide me, you know, so I really don't need you." He cracked his knuckles.

The pair of them appeared scared. "No no!" Mack called.

"We're almost there! Honest!" Joe nodded vigorously.

Knuckles shrugged. "Have it your way." _I hope they aren't leading me to some kind of trap..._

"Here we are!" Mack had a suspiciously upbeat tone as he opened the room to the right of where Shadow had gone.

Knuckles sighed. "You guys gotta tell Eggman not to be so much...trouble..." The door slammed behind him, and in the dim lighting a dinosaur-like robot roared at him. "Definitely not so much trouble…." The mechanical creature's belly glowed green and Knuckles sighed. "I hope you're tough as you look."

The two bots snickered outside the door. "Sucker!" Mack grinned.

"Yeah! That'll teach you! Roborex will get ya for sure!"

The pair of robots eavesdropped on the battle inside. Clashes of flesh versus steel raged within, bashing and battering noises filling the air. Knuckles' enraged cries echoed as his fist smashed through wooden and metal crates. The roborex snapped at Knuckles with powerful jaws, tearing at him and ignoring any damage to the room either of them might cause.

Eventually the pair of robots heard Rex's jaws bite down on his prey and Knuckle's muted yell. The two looked at each other, then listened in on the room. It was silent inside. "You think it won?" Joe said in a hushed tone.

"Of course!" Mack said more boldly.

"Think we should check on it? I mean, Eggman would want to know if we umm...succeeded, right?" Joe listened to the room but couldn't hear anything but minor growls from Rex.

"Yeah, sure." Mack nodded and released the lock on the door. The pair went inside the room, which was in complete shambles. Ammo, supplies, beams, and boxes all lay strewn on the floor. In a corner of the room was the Roborex, the light from his belly casting the eerie shape of an echidna onto the wall. "Hey! Rex! Come on, show us what ya ate, ya big dumb lump of steel!" Roborex turned, an apparently unconscious echidna stored in the glowing green liquid in its stomach.

The robots were relieved, but a little sickened at the sight. "Oioioi…." Joe said in a hushed tone, "Eggman's building stranger robots, don't you think?"

"Yeah...well, he's not gonna give us any more trouble now, is he, Rex?" He beamed at the mechanical dino, though it was short lived. The fluid encasing the echidna began to glow far more brightly, and the dinobot took a step back as if he'd just been hit with a sucker punch. "What the-?!"

All at once, the echidna's brilliant orchid eyes flew open and the energies around him condensed into his body. A half second later, his knuckles shattered the thick glass that encased said liquid.

"Hiiiyaaaah!" Knuckles burst out of it, his body glowing so that the red it normally was had become almost white with the Chaos energy. "Miss me?!" His fist knocked into the nearest robot, Joe, who flew into Mack, and both flew out the opened door into the neighboring room. Knuckles gave a slight glance at the powered down mecha before following the two.

"W-what kinda freak are you!?" Mack said, trembling behind Joe.

"The kind who doesn't like being tricked." He shrugged and rubbed his neck lightly. "Shall we try this again?" The Chaos drive he'd absorbed began to wear off, his fur returning to its normal state.

* * *

On Shadow's end, he'd finally caught up to the villain, the two staring each other down in another cavernous room filled with glowing pillars and complex machines. It sported a wonderfully open space on the floor and little room to hide, as the pillars were mostly clear tubes carrying supplies to different points of the ship.

"What a surprise," Eggman said lowly from his favored mech.

"I've come for Maria," Shadow said coldly, fixing the scientist with a certain look. It held neither anger nor contempt; it was a stoic gaze, dispassionate and void. It was that emptiness to the glare that sent shivers down the man's spine. Very clearly his eyes said '_Do not interfere if you value your life.'_

"I'm afraid that's not possible…." Eggman sighed. He flicked a switch on his mecha, which targeted Shadow, and held a finger on the trigger. "Let's be reasonable...you have any idea what good your daughter's going to do for the world?"

"I know all about the world merger." Shadow shrugged. "But you're not using _her_ to do it."

"I have no choice," Eggman said with some regret in his tone as he pulled the trigger. Shadow was no longer before him and he worked quickly to find his target. The Egg Walker released a number of bombs in all directions, which clung to various surfaces and blinked menacingly. A slight surprised gasp from Shadow betrayed his location, and the mad scientist launched a targeting laser at him.

"Damn it!" Shadow spun aside, though the linked bombs blew in rapid succession. He had to move fast to avoid them, only to fall victim to another laser. The hedgehog stood, breathing a bit heavier as he moved his hand over the burn mark. "Heh...am I a target or what?" His hand rested over where Duo's bullet had passed through a couple months ago. His body mentally relived the pain of that shot.

"I'm giving you a chance now, Shadow... Leave, now," Eggman ordered as a series of lasers bent before Shadow's eyes, all converging on one point. He slipped aside, being missed by the firepower this time. A glowing red-hot point existed where the laser had struck, and the metal plating melted away from it seconds later.

"You chose the wrong target," Shadow replied, disappearing in a flash, and the barrel of one of Eggman's guns came clattering to the ground just after.

The scientist grimaced. Another round of bombs clung to the surfaces of the room. The blasts wouldn't destroy his fortress; he'd built it up too well for that. "Sorry, I really am, but...I can't afford to play this kind of game with you. If you know about the shift then you should just accept that your daughter's sacrifice--" The man's eyes, hidden behind black-lensed glasses, widened in shock as Shadow hefted him by the collar with one hand.

"What were you saying about _sacrifice_?" Shadow's tone darkened, anger at last seeping into it. He threw the scientist to the ground and sat himself in the cockpit, training the very weapons he had been using moments before against him.

Sweat beaded on his brow. "Ahh...come on, Shadow...really! This is most uncivilized..." He backed himself toward the door to the World Gate Amplifier.

"I wonder what happens when I push this button..." he said drolly as the laser just narrowly avoided hitting Eggman. "...Ready to give her back yet?" He shot another laser at Eggman. "I think I just found the auto-lock." Eggman gulped and slammed his hand against the panel next to him. It hissed open moments later. "That's more like it." He smiled grimly.

"Hey! Kunoichi...we have a guest!" Eggman called.

Shadow's ears were alerted by the name of the robot who kidnapped Maria. From the room that had just opened up, twin kodachis embedded themselves in the mech's controls. "Keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" Shadow muttered softly and jumped out of the Egg Walker just before it blew up behind him. The flames framing his outline from behind suited him well.

"Gomen nasai," the ninja robot said, bowing to her adversary, though never taking her eyes off him. "I cannot let you pass." A set of small needles fanned out in her hand.

Shadow sighed. "Too bad you're evil, Sara would have loved to converse with you." He jumped over the incoming needles and launched himself into a spin at the robot. She proved fast, as he passed through a ghost image of E-91.

"Enjoy your fight..." He paused and studied the two fighting. He didn't seem to care taking a hit, as Shadow's movements became increasingly reckless. A few of the bombs Eggman had placed went off, though without the trigger it was just the ones that made physical contact. "Incredible..." He watched Shadow detonate the bombs and manage to get out of blast range just before they would have inflicted harm, while trying to lead Kunoichi into the fray. _What kind of monster did you make, Grandfather?_


	26. Dire News

Shadow whirled around quickly, his foot connecting with Kunoichi's metal wrists. With her robotic strength, she sent him flying, though his quick reflexes landed him safely. He wasted no time in speeding back toward his adversary. Kunoichi also wasted no time, drawing out her chain weapon and swinging the blunt projectile his way.

He ducked under the swinging nunchuck end and went into a spin, hoping to knock the robot off her feet. E-91 proved her agility once more, leaping into the air and swinging the chain back at Shadow, the blunt end turning into a round steel ball.

There was no room for taunts or witty humor in this fight, and Shadow simply worked at evading Kunoichi's attacks. After a while of dodging needles and kodachis and the chain weapon, Shadow had detected an attack pattern.

"Ready to call it quits?" he asked in a low tone, moving near the last cluster of bombs.

The chain weapon impacted the cluster, but it did little to move the solid weight she'd thrust at it. "Shouldn't you be calling it quits? Your movements have slowed three percent." The robot took a glance at where she thought Shadow would be, but he wasn't there. "Ehh?"

"What was that?" Shadow's voice came from behind her. As she whirled around, a dark energy gathered in his hand. He whirled the black fire at her, the robot's body suddenly stunned on the spot. He then unleashed a flurry of hits and kicks on the robot, sending her banging against the metal floor once the assault was over. He hardly gave the sparking robot a second glance as he went into the room containing his daughter.

* * *

Sonic's eyes adjusted to the light as they left behind the hidden tunnels Blaze had led them through. The passage opened up into the rafters of a large room with a vaulted ceiling. Though machines encased the pillars on which the emeralds sat, Sonic was sure he'd been here before. "It looks like the Master Emerald shrine…." Sonic said softly.

"With good reason. It was based on it," Blaze replied.

"Huh?" Sonic glanced at the cat. "Heh, does Knuckles know about this?"

"Who?" Blaze asked.

"Friend of mine, don't sweat it. Guardian of Angel Island...meh, not important." Sonic shrugged.

"...Whatever's down there, we still need to take care of Nega," Blaze replied.

"Right! Let's go!" Sonic grinned and jumped out to a nearby structural pillar, sliding down it in a triumphant way.

"Is he always that loud?" Blaze asked as she looked over the edge. Another fall, great. She took a breath and used her pyrokinesis to slow her descent.

Amy leapt down, letting her board fall at her side. She landed with catlike grace and looked around cautiously. _This is going too well..._ she thought.

A white hedgehog was asleep in the center of the machine, where the Master Emerald would have been. His unconscious form was strapped in, and his body convulsed at varying power surges which ran through the enormous machine. "Silver...!" Blaze rushed toward her friend, her senses on high alert; this had been too easy…it could easily be a trap. She stopped short of him as the emeralds surged with power and Silver let out a scream of pain. "_No...! Please...!_" She grabbed one of the wrist restraints and felt the Chaos surge through her as well.

Silver's golden eyes flew open and rested on his feline friend. "Y-you came." He winced, but his sudden leap to consciousness seemed to affect the emeralds, the surge dying away as suddenly as it had begun.

"Of course I did," Blaze replied as she undid the restraints on his other wrist.

Sonic had been circling around the perimeter, but no one came. _This isn't like Eggman..._

"So you came at last," Nega called from one end of the spacious room, a number of sentry robots surrounding him. "Bravo. So you save your friend and let the world go to pieces." He grinned.

"Nega...!" Blaze supported Silver as she helped him out of the machine.

"Finally!" Sonic launched himself at the scientist, though the sentry bots created an energy shield, which repelled him.

"Don't you find it interesting? Your success in defeating me could ultimately destroy not one but three worlds!" Eggman Nega continued to grin at them.

Silver glanced over at Nega, "Why…why are you doing this?"

"Because I can." He bowed a bit. "It looks like you have no choice but to play by my rules." Lights glowed harshly on the robots as lasers powered up, trained mostly on Amy. Sonic noted this and quickly moved in front of her. "For Eggman, he can accept defeat. I, on the other hand, am in the frame of mind winner takes all."

"You're worse than Eggman!" Sonic snapped at him, his emerald eyes ablaze. Amy clung to him, hoping he wouldn't do anything stupid.

"Actually I'm better than my original. I'm going to succeed where he failed. That last Emerald goes there." He indicated a pillar. "I'm perfectly willing to destroy this whole palace if you don't wish to comply."

* * *

Shadow moved unchallenged to the center of the room. The emerald power was surging through the systems, he could sense it. Even worse, it had made his little girl cry. "Daddy's here," he said softly as he reached for his daughter.

"It's not over yet," Maria said.

"What do you want?" he said softly.

"Don't let the future go wrong." Her ruby eyes lost their gemlike quality as the bonds were released.

"So what are you going to do about the world collision?" Eggman called from the doorway.

Shadow had freed his daughter from the bindings and held her gently in his arms. "I'm going to stop it." He headed over to the vacant pillar and set the last emerald on it.

"So you're going to use yourself instead?" He glanced at the child clutched in Shadow's arms.

"If I have to." His tone remained even. "Knuckles and Tails should be here soon. We'll go from there."

"We're here already," Tails' voice called over the comm system. "Now that the last emerald's in place we should be able to move things along quickly."

"Well then, I guess you won't be needing me." Eggman tried to bow out only to be halted by Knuckles' fist.

"Not so fast. Hey, Tails, what's the scoop?" Knuckles asked as he entered the pseudo-emerald shrine.

"The echo's gotten stronger; I think they have the last emerald," Tails replied.

"So are we stopping or helping it?" Knux inquired.

"We help it," Uncle Chuck's voice intervened. "Sorry I've been quiet, Sonic and the others are in a bit of a bind...looks like we have no choice."

"Well that narrows things down. What do we do?" Shadow asked.

"The Chaos energies have to be unified from this time period and the future," Tails replied. "Both time periods have gathered the seven, so it's a matter of you and Sonic being of the same mind."

"Like that would ever happen." Shadow looked at his daughter as if expecting something from her.

"It's not impossible. Chuck? Let me know when they're ready." Tails' voice started.

"Shadow's a very capable Chaos user, he should be able to sense when Sonic starts things on his end," Chuck's voice broke through again.

"You do realize you could die?" Eggman put in at last.

"Yeah. That's probably what Nega wants, right? Well...I don't plan on it." Shadow looked back at his daughter. She was clinging to the furry white tuft of his chest, mildly aware they were in a bad place. Her little quills stiffened outward. "Hey, Knuckles? Think you can handle her a minute?"

"Yeah." Knuckles glanced at the doctor. "Nap time." He jumped up and clubbed Eggman on the head, knocking him unconscious. "You think you can handle this?"

Shadow handed Maria over to him. "I know I can." He headed over to the central pillar, a snap heard as he loosed one of his gold bracelets.

* * *

The World Gate shifted as the power of the emeralds locked. The portal seemed to spread out over the landscape on both ends, a sudden shift taking place. Next to Station Square, a lush forest had cropped up, with a palace in its center...Knothole. In other places in the world the same kinds of things were happening. Eggman's fortress became visible on Earth as the two worlds merged into one.

Immediate confusion cropped up where human and Mobian settlements overlapped. But this was not the true scope of the world merger, as a new portal appeared in the sky over Station Square. A large portal opened wide, linking the future and the past, a vast army of robots flying out of the new portal.

* * *

"At last, the world will know the Eggman Empire!" Nega gloated. "Thank you so much for your cooperation, but I have an invasion to oversee!" He bowed and left with his robots.

"No!" Silver bolted after him.

"Wait!" Blaze glanced at the fleeing white form, and then back to Amy, quivering on her knees by Sonic's limp form. _It can't end like this... It can't!_ "Sorry…." She made her choice and ran after Silver and Nega.

The pulsing of the emerald's power had slowed, and Amy was left alone in the quiet open room. She took Sonic's hand in hers and drew in a shaky breath. "S...Sonic?" She listened for any sign of life from him. "We're having another baby...you know?" She got to her feet and took a deep breath, "So...you have to wake up okay?" She attempted a smile. "You have to! You have to!" Getting no response, she fell on his chest and began to sob. "**Sonic!!**"


	27. Elating Moments

"Looks like it's our turn, eh?" Rouge glanced at Topaz. The two of them were in an armored mecha based on designs provided by Uncle Chuck some time ago.

"Yeah." Topaz nodded.

If Nega was hoping the present would go quietly he was sorely mistaken. Station Square had taken measures to ensure its fortification. While the two Chucks had been working on tracing the time/space distortion, an army had been in the works.

"Let's move!" Rouge gave a fanged grin as Topaz started up the machine. Rouge was playing gunner and with deadly accuracy. "Good thing we've been expecting trouble, eh?"

"Don't get too cocky!" Topaz shook her head.

"Oi! How are you ladies doing?" Sam Speed's voice called through the radio. His unit had been refitted with weapons just for this assignment, and he was more than happy to be away from the desk job.

"Just fine, Sam, we've hardly begun!" Topaz replied.

"Sam? Who's Sam? This is Lightning Gale!" his voice chirped.

Nega's forces were much like the ones the original Eggman had been preparing. The Mobian forces had taken care of Eggman's front while Earth's resources were now trained on Nega's. G.U.N. joined in the fight as well. A large amount of firepower was unleashed as both forces met, as much in the air as possible to reduce casualties.

Soon after, Nega's battleship cleared the portal. Shortly behind that, two figures breached the portal in the air, a white hedgehog and a lavender cat. From the back of a pink Extreme Gear, the cat began a flurry of fiery attacks on the mechanical army. The white hedgehog seemed to be able to manipulate the mecha themselves, causing them to crash into each other.

The unusual sky, showing the gateway to the future, had not escaped anyone's eyes. The news broadcasts, both Mobian and Earth, were coming in loud and clear with the reports. From the Thorndyke mansion, Sara turned her gaze skyward.

"You think they're all right?" she asked softly.

"Yeah. They have to," Chris said comfortingly, putting a hand on her shoulder.

* * *

"Papa?" Maria called in her soft little voice.

Knuckles' eyes fell on the room. Aside the dim glow of the emeralds, it was dark. A black flame had poured out of the center pillar, engulfing the room moments before. It hadn't burned Knuckles or Maria or even Eggman, but the room was tarnished.

"Everyone okay?" Charles' voice called through Knuckles' headset.

"I'm...I'm not sure," Knuckles said softly.

"Wow, that was something! The merger was a complete success..!" Tails called, finally catching up to Knuckles. When his eyes fell on the room, though, he became breathless. "Is he?"

"I don't know..."

"Papa?" Maria's tone became scared.

* * *

_"I told you...you can't die before me...bastard..." Shadow's voice echoed in the void._

_"Like I'd ever agree to that, huh? I plan on outrunning death itself!" Sonic's voice retorted._

_"Good." A red glow illuminated the darkness, followed by a similar blue spark._

_"Did we do it?" The blue spark took a ghostly form of Sonic the hedgehog._

_"Yeah. But it's not over." The red spark took the outline of Shadow's form._

_"Beat the bad guy and go home?" Sonic asked, starting to race through the void, though there were no landmarks to guide him._

_Shadow's spirit followed beside him. "It's not that simple; we need to set time and space right."_

_"So we send the future back where it belongs while kicking Nega out. That guy rubs me the wrong way," Sonic said as they continued the trek through the void, looking for any landmarks._

_"Mobius and Earth are one right now, should we set that back as well?" Shadow detected a flicker of emerald light ahead._

_"I guess so. But the worlds are going to join anyways, why not now?" Sonic saw the light too...two of them._

_Shadow held his hand out, and the emerald light absorbed into it, his form becoming a bit more solid. "Because we're not ready."_

_Sonic did likewise. "You think?"_

_"There's too many unknowns, a merger now would mean war tomorrow. I don't want my little girl growing up in that." Shadow's eyes searched and caught a silver light ahead._

_"Right." Sonic felt strength returning to him as he passed the silver light. "Well, we have two time period's emeralds, we should be able to do something, right?"_

_A smile curled on Shadow's lips as they passed another of the emerald lights. "Maybe."_

* * *

Amy continued to sob over Sonic's unresponsive body. She hadn't noticed the emeralds reacting in the room. First the green, then the silver, then the blue...until all seven were illuminating the room. "Wha?" She looked around the room as the many colored lights washed over the room.

The lights converged on the blue hedgehog and his eyes fluttered open. His arms wrapped around Amy tightly, her tears frozen at the sudden comfort she'd been praying for. "I'm still here," Sonic's voice reached her ears, though there was some disbelief in her eyes.

"S...Sonic" She tried to wipe her tears away to better look at him. His eyes had turned crimson and his quills gold.

"Hang on!" He grinned, sweeping her off her feet.

* * *

On the Egg Fortress, Shadow had woken up. A ghastly aura of Chaos had radiated off of him until, in an apparent daze, he replaced his limiters. The emeralds in the room began to glow and converged around the hedgehog, whose quills turned a brilliant platinum.

"Shadow?!" Knuckles started in disbelief.

"Papa!" Maria beamed.

"Wow! You're alive!" Tails said in shock.

Shadow glided over to the group, casting an affectionate gaze on his daughter. "Get out of here as fast as you can. I'm taking down Eggman's fleet, then I'm going to join Sonic." He lightly pat her on the head while addressing the echidna and fox.

"Right." Tails nodded.

Shadow paused a moment and looked back at his little girl. "Then again...I think she's better off with me." He scooped Maria up into his arms and took off. Neither Knuckles nor Tails would have dared get in his way.

* * *

"Hey! It's Sonic!" Chris called and dared venture outside the house. Sara couldn't help following.

The gold hedgehog gently set Amy down on the sidewalk. "There we go." He beamed. "Hey, Chris! Taking care of things here?" He winked.

"Yeah! Well as I can at least." The teen grinned.

"Come back safely!" Amy scolded her lover.

Seconds later, Shadow touched down at the residence. "Hey. Brought you something."

Sara's expression was overjoyed as she extended her arms for their baby. "Shadow! Thank you so much!" She kissed his cheek and thought she detected a little blush from him.

"It's not over yet." Shadow gave her a light kiss before glancing back at the portal. "Ahh...Nega's a pain, eh?"

Sonic nodded in agreement. "Ready?"

"Always." Shadow's feet hardly seemed to touch the ground, and he and Super Sonic were off to meet the enemy.

As robot after robot came after them, Blaze's pyrokinetic abilities seemed to weaken. Silver's telekinetic abilities also seemed to wane as the battle raged on. "I won't give up!" The white hedgehog said in a determined way. His power surged, sending two of the larger craft into each other. A few laser blasts of cover fire issued from the guns on Rouge and Topaz' machine, which was starting to take some damage.

Silver and gold streaks blurred across the battleground, keeping large chunks of debris from reaching the streets and even hurtling the damaged mecha back through the time portal. "This...this can't be happening!" Nega insisted as he was seeing large chunks of his forces disappear without a trace.

"It can." Sonic grinned, appearing on the deck of his battle cruiser.

"And it is." Shadow smirked beside him.

"No!" Nega wasted no time, training all weapons on the pair of hedgehogs and firing. The blasts did more damage to his ship than anything else, the pair standing there unfazed.

"That it?" Sonic complained.

"Our turn." Shadow gave a sinister grin.

From the ground, twin flashes of light were seen tearing through the battle cruiser as though it were made of paper. The rest of the forces were scattered and destroyed the same way. As the battle came to a close, cheering went up from the people of the newly merged worlds.

Blaze turned to Silver with a smile, and the two descended to the streets, where one fat scientist was deposited before them. "You can do what you want with him." Shadow shrugged.

"Thank you," Blaze replied with a smile.


	28. Final Moments

"You two..." Silver stared at the super-powered hedgehogs in amazement, "you're the ones I was dreaming about. I knew you would come."

"Eh?" Blaze looked at Silver. "How?"

"Heh, the emeralds are kind of funny," Shadow shrugged. "Ready to go back to your time?"

"I wish we could've had more time to get to know each other," Blaze put in. "I think you would like the future...well...without Nega, at least."

"Looks like the past is in good hands." Silver smiled.

"Okay, running out of time here, it's now or never," Sonic said, the emeralds separating from his and Shadow's bodies, the glowing gems swirling around them in a ring.

"Thanks for all your help." Blaze smiled.

"Yeah. Maybe we'll meet again." Silver blinked as the emeralds that had surrounded Sonic encircled him and Blaze. "What...?"

"Enjoy the future," Shadow said calmly. He and Sonic raised their palms skyward, the visitors from the future lifting with their set of emeralds to the sky. The emeralds of their time spun around them, spending their energies outward. After the two had slipped behind the portal to the future, the future's emeralds sealed the way behind them. The energies from the two hedgehogs expanded over the globe.

The landmarks that had not long ago become one slipped back to their own time and place. Knothole Kingdom vanished from the landscape next to Station Square; the Floating Island resumed its orbit over the true Mobian landscape. People, places, and things were returned to their original locations as the pair spent the emerald's power reforming the worlds.

As the emeralds flew apart from the hedgehogs, whose fur returned to their normal colors, the World Gate was restored. But not one…. Six new gates opened where the emeralds landed, the gemstones returning to their home on Mobius. Shadow and Sonic exchanged grins as the energies faded away, and the two passed out.

* * *

Shadow's eyes opened and glanced around the room. It was one of the guest rooms in the Thorndyke house. "Mnnn..." He glanced beside him, seeing Sara's head resting on the edge of the bed. It was pretty dark out, so he must have been asleep a while. His mind recalled all the chaos that had happened earlier that day and looked around for Maria. He didn't have to look far, as she was curled up on the pillow beside him, one of Sara's hands lightly resting on the child.

He sat up slightly and gently traced Sara's face with his hand, "Hey..." he said in a hushed tone.

"Hmmm?" Sara yawned a reply and stretched a bit before opening her eyes. "Shadow!" Her arms fell around him in a tight embrace, practically tackling him back down onto the bed.

"H...hey!" He couldn't help but smile. He had worried her a bit, hadn't he? As ready as Shadow had been to take on Nega, he seemed helpless against Sara's onslaught of affection.

Maria was roused by the sudden activity; her little arms trying to hug around Shadow's head was a bit too much for her yet. "Papa!"

"Yeah yeah, I'm home. Big deal," Shadow said softly, stroking his daughter's head lightly and trying to fend off an overzealous mate.

"Yeah, it is a big deal." Sara backed off him a bit and sat with her feet over the edge of the bed. "After the stunt you and Sonic pulled...and wow, you know there's seven gates now?"

"No." He finally collected himself and sat up, drawing Maria to his side. "How's Sonic?"

"He was out like a light too. Asleep in the next room," Sara said in a bit more collected tone. She looked him over as if it were the first time she'd ever seen him before.

"...What?" He ran his fingers through his quills, making sure everything was in place.

"You had me worried." She smiled a little bit. "Even seeing you like that, I wasn't sure if you'd come back to me."

He wrapped his free arm around her and held her close. "Of course I would." He closed his eyes a moment, taking in her familiar scent. He was home; everything he wanted or needed was right within his grasp, right there.

"Oi! He's up too!" Chris called from just outside the guest room in the hall. He'd opened the door to check on them.

"Could you knock next time?!" Shadow flung a pillow at Chris and sighed. Sara laughed at that.

* * *

"So, does this mean you're going home to Mobius?" Sara asked her father at breakfast the next morning.

"Ahh...I don't know. I was thinking of moving the business here," Charles hedgehog said as he collected a couple of pancakes to his plate that Ella had offered. "Thank you."

"We enjoyed having you." Chris' grandfather smiled, taking his own plate of goodies.

"Looks like everything turned out all right." Sonic grinned.

"Yep!" Chris chimed up.

"You don't mind me staying now, do you?" Charles hedgehog addressed Shadow.

"Huh? Well..." He glanced over at Sara and then back at the light blue hedgehog. "No...as long as you get your own place."

"Right well..." the hedgehog smiled a bit, "you really have done well by Sara...I'm proud to call you my son." Shadow smiled a bit at that.

"More good news." Amy smiled as she spooned some baby food into Blitz's mouth. "Sonic and I are having another little one!"

"Wow! That's great!" Chris brightened at that.

"Yeah, looks like I'm hot stuff, eh?" Sonic grinned proudly. A round of congratulations shot up around the table.

"Master Chris. There are a number of reporters around the house. What shall I tell them?" Mr. Tanaka said from the dining room door.

"Oh no! Not again!" Chris rolled his eyes. It was bad enough his mom and dad got such publicity, but he knew Sonic didn't really want the attention. Laughter erupted around the table.

"Ahh.. What do we do? They have us surrounded it seems," Amy mused, wiping some spilled baby food from her infant's mouth.

"Hope they go away?" Shadow said dryly. He watched Sara spoon feed Maria to similar results.

"They probably want to know what happened and thank you guys." Chris replied, taking a big bite of his pancake. "Mmm! Delicious, Ella!"

"I'm glad you like it!" Ella replied.

The wrinkled old human Charles glanced at his furry friend. "Ahh...I guess we can see if we can head them off, eh?"

"You know they don't want the scientific view on things," the hedgehog Charles replied with a grin.

"Yeah, but it'll save the kids some grief." He shrugged.

"Fine. After I'm done with my breakfast." The hedgehog smiled good-naturedly.

The news frenzy was hardly abated by the two scientists telling their account of the story. Sonic and Shadow had managed to speed their families back to their apartments with the diversion made by the two gentlemen, but that didn't mean the reporters stopped trying. It would be at least a couple weeks before the families were left alone, and meanwhile special news reports and documentaries cropped up like weeds. Shadow was quoted for saying "This is why I don't like saving the world." In any event, things eventually went back to a normal pace.

* * *

The bell on the door to Vinnie's Pizza chimed, signaling a customer's entry. "Vinnie's Pizza! We heat 'em, you eat 'em! Hey...Shadow! Long time no see!" Tony, the caramel-haired human, smiled down at his favorite customer.

"Hi." Shadow held the door open, allowing Maria to toddle in after him.

"Aww. Bringing the little one? She's adorable!" he said brightly, coming around the counter as he usually did when the hedgehog paid a visit.

"Yeah." Shadow's eyes were reflective and he glanced at the photo of Tony and his family. "You know, I can't stand you."

"Heh. Yeah, I got that impression when we met." The man smiled anyways. "What's ya point?"

"You're like Sonic too much. Don't have a care in the world, yet you have everything." He pulled something from the collar of his glove and smiled a bit at the piece of paper he'd pulled out.

"Worries add years and fears, my friend. What's the sense in that?" He shrugged. "So what's that?"

"I finally got everything." He offered the page to Tony. "Can I get a double cheese to go?"

"For a hero? Anything." Tony smiled. He went behind the counter again and handed off the pizza free of charge.

Shadow left with it moments later and Carlo turned to his boss with a questioning gaze. "Well? What'd he give you, Tony?"

"A great treasure." Tony smiled and headed back around the counter. Next to the picture of him and his family, he placed the photo Shadow had given him: a picture of his family. "He's still not great at conversation, but I told ya he'd do fine."

* * *

An icy wind cut the air like a knife, crisp brown leaves falling to the ground. Maria giggled and chased after the wind strewn leaves in the park while Shadow and Sara watched her from a few feet away. "Hey! Not too far!" Shadow called after her.

Sara hung on his arm with a smile. Publicly, he still tended to be short on affection, but he didn't mind the way she clung to him. "She's not going anywhere."

"Yet... Just wait 'til Blitz gets out here." He sighed, running a hand through his quills lightly.

"Ahh...you keep thinking Blitz is like Sonic." She smiled and took a seat on a park bench.

"Like father, like son? That's what they say, right?" Shadow remained standing, ready to reign in their little girl. Her motor skills had developed rapidly in the months since the world disaster was averted.

"What does that mean for Maria?" Sara held her arms open and the baby toddled toward her mother.

Shadow sat next to her when Maria was scooped into her arms. "It means…." He tilted one ear outward and just looked at the mother and child. "I don't know."

Sara smiled. "Thought so." She leaned against Shadow, who slipped an arm around her since nobody else seemed to be around.

"I love you." The words slipped softly from his lips to her ear. "I love you and Maria both."

"I know. I love you too." Sara smiled contentedly. He loved seeing that contentment on her face.

"Love you, Papa!" Maria chimed up. Shadow was pleasantly surprised at his little girl's response. For a moment he thought he saw a glimmer of the human she was named after in her eyes. Illusion or not, he knew what he had was real. Not everything was perfect in his life, and it never would be...but he felt pretty confident he'd weathered the worst of life's ups and downs already. Nothing could be more satisfying than that.

...The End


End file.
